I do as well. Guess I really have no idea which Morey would prefer. If they could get Philly to bite on Fox/Bagley, I think it would benefit both teams. Sac could put Simmons at the 4 and go with a Mitchell/Halliburton/Hield guard rotation, and that could develop into a quality group.
As somebody pointed out: the last time Sacramento was relevant was when they traded for a 25-year-old disgruntled former #1 pick. They played him at the 4, too.
I'm sure Sacramento would be happy with this, and who knows, it may be the best offer Philly gets. Mitchell could be really good.
What you do is have Simmons push the break every time after a rebound. If the defense sets he gives the ball to Dame and the two of them do a pick and roll with shooters moving on the perimeter. With three shooters around them they would be borderline unstoppable. A creative coach can absolutely get those two to produce gold.
I think Minnesota, because I think they will be willing to give up D'Angelo Russell for him. To me, Wolves never seemed to be better when he was on the court
Simmons and Dame would be absolute mandess in the pick and roll. Also Simmons slashing to the hoop at 6'11" is something most can barely conceive of in terms of how deadly it would be and borderline unprecedented during the Dame years. Give Simmons man a screen have him slash hard and shooters rotate, if someone collapses to stop Simmons he's an elite passer. There is a TON that can be done with Simmons he just needs 3-4 shooters around him at all times. He never really had that in Philly.
Uh yes! Sure Simmons would be a downgrade on offense, but he'd raise the floor and ceiling of our defense to truly elite territory, especially if we are able to keep Covington and Nance. Simmons isn't a blank on offense, but CJ is an absolute sieve on defense. That's a huge difference right there. We are going from CJ's elite offense to Ben's quite strong offense (if used correctly) and CJ's no defense to Ben's 2nd best in the league defense. MASSIVE upgrade.
So we have to remake the entire team to cater to a guy who disappears in the fourth quarter of playoff games?
Agreed. And I think some of Simmons problems on offense go away if he's put in a more supportive environment with Dame to help steady things. I'd be willing to bet he respects Dame and Dame's style more than what he's been dealing with in Philly.
You’re leaving out a very important part of moving CJ. With CJ gone, Norm can move into his natural shooting guard position.
I think the Blazers would be better after a CJ for Simmons trade, even with a couple of firsts added. But it isn't the same as a CJ for PG13 trade or a CJ for Butler trade. Those trades would have much narrower downsides. Simmons has a big flaw. However, that flaw has been exaggerated out of all reasonable proportion IMO. Yes, it means that Simmons has to be on the floor with good shooters and play in a favorable scheme. But his other talents border on elite Portland can't contend without taking some risks
