If CJ were to be traded, who are we most likely to get?

so would i. but CJ is not passing up an open layup down 2 in a Game 7. nor is he doing dribble hand offs with Curry while he has 10 feet of space from his defender. CJ is exactly the kinda guy that Philly team needs.

 

It's been said plenty, but the only reason we're able to have this conversation is because of these playoff yips. We all knew he couldn't shoot the 3 before the playoffs, but if a straight CJ for Simmons trade was brought up in the beginning of the season, it would have been roundly mocked.
I think we need to strike while we can to add a player like Ben. Is there risk? Of course. But haven't we all been complaining about Neil not taking risks with the roster?

 

THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

CJ also has local appeal. Don't think for a minute Philly fans have forgotten him leading Lehigh over Duke in the NCAA Tournament.

And he has more to his game than Seth Curry. Some people get too caught up in efficiency and forget that there are guys that are efficient because they play a role well and aren't even Robin -- they're more like Alfred the butler for their team's Batman.

CJ probably has more value to Philly for a number of reasons that outweigh his deficiencies here. Simmons is at a point where the expectations for him are so high in a city where the expectations are so high that he probably wants out, and, tbh, the Sixers might have to move him to keep the natives at peace. Again, I just wonder if you see a team like OKC that has a million draft picks and says they'd trade Gilgeous-Alexander and picks for Simmons and bank on allllll those draft picks they have to pick SGA's replacement.

 

you had me until the SGA+picks for Simmons thing.

At this point, I think SGA has far more value than Ben.

 

I think there's another element here: Fear. Simmons doesn't just lack confidence in his shot. His comments suggest he doesn't even think he can improve and probably won't work hard at it, probably because he sees it not working and that compounding his failure/shortcomings.

I coached an HS player like that. Really hard-nosed defensive kid. He would have been our fifth option on offense, so, basically, he just needed to be able to make wide-open 15-foot jumpers to be a major asset because we had a couple of other kids who demanded double teams.

He wouldn't even attempt the shots. Killed morale of the whole team to see him 12 feet from the hoop unguarded and stand there for 5-10 seconds looking to pass the ball to covered teammates because he didn't want to take and potentially miss that one shot.

I remember a practice where we worked specifically on that and some of his mechanics. He gave up less than 5 minutes in because he wasn't getting immediate results.

Even worse, he was so self-conscious that he was letting the team down that he started undermining everyone else, telling other players that their teammates were not getting them the ball enough or not trying hard enough. Telling players they coaches weren't using them right. Telling coaches that players were saying stuff detrimental to the team. His fear of failure made him a cancer to the team.

 

So I think a better question at this point is:

Who else would want Simmons?

Who else can/would offer something better than CJ?

Would NOP offer Ingram for Simmons?

 

Yeah, that does sound possible. Although SGA's value may have surpassed Simmons at this point - he's very good.

 

You're not selling us on Simmons here...

Simmons' stone-faced demeanor has always bothered me. Of course, CJ's the same way on the court, but he's nothing like that off it. Does Simmons even show his real self? He seems super-private.

 

He's also young. He's only 22. So it doesn't make sense for OKC to trade a guy that fits their window and is already extremely good for a guy that's older and is coming off his worst performance in his career.

 

Trae Young was 5-23 in Sunday's game...

 

He also said that he's gonna get back into the gym because he needs to keep improving.

 

OK, then they can send us Curry and Simmons for CJ and Jones, or if they insist, Little.

 

Little should not be a throw-in for any trade. He is just scratching the service. We will know way more about him after next year.
The guy needs playing time.

 

From a 6ers perspective, the best thing to try is probably flip Ben/Curry -> CJ/DJJ/protected 1st then flip DJJ/protected 1st to TOR for Lowry in a sign-and-trade.

Lowry/CJ/Thybulle/Harris/Embiid is a lot more balanced than currently constructed. Turning Simmons/Curry into Lowry/CJ is probably the best they can hope for, which isn’t all bad.

 

Yeh, I would rather send them a pick than Little.

 

Magic Johnson and Steven A Smith just said there should be a CJ for Simmons swap.

I think it makes a lot of sense for both teams.

 

Getting some national media on board doesn't hurt.

 

Zach Lowe on his pod today w/ Bobby Marks: the two teams that stand out as potential Simmons destinations are Portland and Chicago.

http://www.espn.com/espnradio/play?id=31681455

"I'm gonna tell you right now, Portland is going to talk tough today, 'why would we want to trade CJ McCollum for Ben Simmons? CJ is a proven scorer in the playoffs.' That's fine. CJ is 29 on giant contract. Simmons in 24 on a giant contract. But the Lillard-Simmons combo makes sense to me even with any spacing issues in the low post with Nurkic, but we can deal with that later. Lillard-McCollum also made a ton of sense, but there are clear defensive limitations that have prevented them from getting over the hump."

 

Honestly, I'd be surprised if the Sixers are getting a protected first AND CJ or anything like that in any deal for Simmons right now. Guy isn't the No. 1 pick anymore. There's a book on him, and he has some serious flaws, actually, when you think about it, more serious than CJ's.

People need to stop looking at CJ as the guy you hate as a Blazer and want to give away for any warm body and realize that not every NBA team or fan base sees him as that bad, nor is any guy that we'd trade for CJ some perfect talent.