Man, Id love to have Dom but why would the Pacers trade him for CJ and picks? Seems Carlisle would especially want Dom on his team? Id be all over that trade but other teams could give much more than us to acquire Dom.
Yah, that ain't happening. That's a lot like those silly Dame trade ideas that come out of every Jerkwater USA town and the LA Media.
Yep I still think the most likely scenario is trading CJ for Simmons and then Nurk for a Wing or stretch 4-5. Is Simmons flawed? Yes. Is his trade contract thing horrific? Yep it's pretty horrific. Is it risky? Not super risky actually, but better put it has incredible upside if you put the right team around him, which we mostly already have. Simmons is flawed, deeply so, just like CJ but in reverse. The difference is Simmons issue is the easiest NBA skill to fix, shooting. Simply by getting him to shoot right-handed you probably gain +10% FT% right there. Simmons will feel wanted when we trade for him and the combination of Billups who was a Finals MVP and NBA champion (that matters a TON to players) and Dame Lillard I'm confident they can get Simmons to buy in completely and do what we need him to do. Chauncey's personal story of nearly washing out of the league due to not having a shot, I mean come on that's tailor-made for the Ben Simmons redemption story. He had one terrible series and a lot of that was due to not having the right team around him. There is precisely zero chance we can get a better player for CJ. Also, don't under estimate the value of the best perimeter defender in the league being on your team. The very fact so many are down on this idea gives me a ton of hope it might actually happen. It would never happen without this level of doubt around Simmons which is I guarantee at an all-time high in quite literally his entire basketball career.
If Bryant can come back healthy, I feel like some combination of this could make sense for all three teams.
Is it though? Turning CJ into a high-upside forward and a proven deadeye stretch 4, and saving $10M? But let's say it is (debatable)--what makes it better?
So Morey is going to set and wait for Ben to get a shot/FT/and head right before he trades him? I think he's one of the more aggressive GM's that has a love for offensive players first. The question is how much more would it take to add to CJ to acquire him as Morey will get offers for many a gun slinger. Id add Simons if they add Maxey.
My first thought is how could Simmons and Westbrook co-exist? Dame could work with Simmons because he is a pure shooter. But Russ really likes to run the show. Can they move his 40+ million contracts? They would need to IMO.
I think Knicks would do that. Raptors would for sure, GS probably not. For Portland I think it would be OK. Wiggins has improved his defense.
rumored at the deadline larry nance,jr was available for a first round pick. flip the one from the knicks along with DJJ for him and get insurance at the 4/5. can stretch the floor too. GS in luxury tax hell @168 million plus already. this years 2 first swapped for early second rounders improves the acquisition/real dollar costs for next season. saves them 6-8 million in base salary not including tax. sending out wiseman increases the savings by another 8 million. allows them to re-sign Oubre with the savings
$40 million/year for a guy who doesn’t know which hand he should shoot and is a 60% FT shooter is a bit of a risk. He can’t win with Embiid but he’ll win with Dame? He’s intriguing but I don’t see how it works. I’d trade Lillard for him because CJ can play off the ball with Simmons and average 30ppg. Dame and Simmons don’t seem to fit because they are both ball-dominant players.
Simmons’ issue is far from the easiest to fix. Not just “shooting” which isn’t “easy” to fix but psychologically he needs to be fixed. Maybe that was temporary (I don’t think so), but how a very athletic, skilled, grown man can’t shoot a jumper is either mental or laziness. Neither is a quick fix
So if you’re defending the wizards you tell your team to stand in the key. Don’t guard the two guys who make about 80m?
it's the same problem Billups had. Pride. Even if it's not fixed Simmons is hands down the best player we can land for CJ. Period. Again plan on he can't fix it so get even more shooters, and then if he does, what's your ring size? Right now Portland is way, WAYYYYY out of contention. We aren't even as good as Den without Murray. We are just straight-up worse than both LA team, PHX, Utah and Denver. Dallas and Golden State are right there with us and even the Pelicans with an emergent Zion aren't that much worse than us. We need a swing for the fences move. We need a superstar-level talent and our cupboard is fairly bare. It's CJ for Simmons and I guarantee, I absolutely guarantee that team of Dame Roco Powell Simmons and then surrounding them with more shooters is far, far better than our current team. Yes, of course Dame and Embiid are kinda different players. Sure Dame needs the ball a lot of the time but can find Simmons slashing or cutting. A Dame plus Simmons Pick and roll with three shooters? Unstoppable. A creative coach can absolutely make Simmons work next to Lillard. You know, Lillard is pretty good at shooting. Embiid while great for a big man, is simply not a good off-the-ball option compared to getting it in the post. This seems, fairly straightforward to me. There is so much you can do with Simmons offensively to deal with his limitations. I think 70% FT shooting is not only achievable, it will happen. If he can even find a long-range stroke? He would be on the shortlist of MVP players. What do you think is more likely? Simmons learning to shoot, or CJ becoming a lockdown defender? I think we both know the answer to that. How many NBA 1st team level guys are out there available? How many coming in 2nd on DPOY voting players are available? In both cases, the answer is, just one and his name is Ben Simmons. Getting Simmons for CJ would be the best trade this franchise has made since trading for Pippen and all that lead to. Interestingly, Simmons is a bigger, faster, better version of Pippen, aside from the lack of jump shot. A huge difference obviously, but Simmons is better than Pippen at everything else. IF he finds a stroke? He's Pippen on steroids and methamphetamines.
I don’t doubt the team is better and I would do it. But just saying fixing Simmons’s issues are not easy and may never be fixed. So you live with an outstanding defender and a guy who can pass. Which is fine. But it’s not easy to turn a shitty shooter who I think is mentally weak, may be uncoachable with family and friends in his ear and is a veteran at this point. I say go get him but know what you are getting and that’s it.
