Am I being sacrilegious?

[gouki88]

I was thinking of a discussion I was having with Who in another thread. It was centred around the potential issues we have with playmaking and defence in our starting lineup.

Then something dawned on me. I am not even sure I do the deal, but it just came into my mind. An intrusive thought more than anything.

What if we traded Brogdon + Horford for Ben Simmons + Day'Ron Sharpe? Picks could be given and taken as necessary.

I have long been one of the more vocal critics of Simmons on the forum. I have no faith in his mentality, and worry about his injuries. I am a big fan of Brogdon and Horford provides a lot to us on and off the court. Horford also provides stability in a time of great change. But, nonetheless, the idea has persisted.

At #25 I would take Colby Jones. To me, he actually reminds me a lot of both White and Brogdon. Can't remember if we'd have the MLE still. If so, throw that at Keita Bates-Diop, and a Vet Min at Josh Okogie.

White / Pritchard
Brown / Okogie / Jones
Tatum / Hauser
Simmons / Bates-Diop
Porzingis / Williams 3 / Sharpe

I'm still not sure I do it. I blame Who for making me think of adding playmaking and defence.

[ChillyWilly]

Give me all your TPs I'm going to hold on to them until you get your sanity back. 

[gouki88]

Give me all your TPs I'm going to hold on to them until you get your sanity back. 

Ok, good. I thought it was insane. Had to get a pulse check

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Now I can't get this out of my head. Here's the deal I came up with.

Magic get: Grant Williams (SnT), Brogdon
Magic trade: Anthony or Suggs, Harris

Nets get: Anthony or Suggs, Kornet, Champagnie
Nets trade: Simmons, 2 future 2nds

Celtics get: Simmons
Celtics trade: Grant Williams (SnT), Brogdon, Kornet, Champagnie, 2 future seconds

Magic justification: They want to navigate getting Grant Williams in RFA. A leader and vet like Brogdon makes a lot of sense on this team. They also have a log-jam with young guards and its fairly obvious they are going to need to trade one.

Nets justification: Getting off Simmons salary this year and next year is a pretty big benefit, as they should have a massive amount of cap space with draft picks to build this team quickly starting next season. Simmons seems to have worn out his welcome a bit. Getting a young prospect in Anthony or Suggs is good value.

Celtics justification: I think this is as risky injury-wise as Brogdon. I tend to think Simmons will be healthier this season, but he needs the right situation. On-court, Simmons makes a ton of sense next to Zinger, Brown, and Tatum as a low-usage distributor with all-NBA defense. He could function in an Igoudala/Green hybrid-type role on this team off the bench or in the closing unit. This trade gives us an 8-man rotation of Tatum-White-Brown-Zinger-Williams-Horford-Simmons-Pritchard with Hauser and Davison off the bench. If you include a TPMLE and a few vet minimum guys (bring back Griffin?), that team is still one of the deepest in the league, while having some of the most top-end talent. Keeping Pritchard gives us shooting and floor-spacing. We have 4 legit bigs and never need to have Brown or Tatum playing up a position.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Now, on the other hand, I think the Celtics could find a similar type of player somewhere else. I definitely think Stevens has a plan for the TPMLE, because of his aggressive moves out of the first round.

Trade?
- Kyle Anderson would do a lot of the same things Simmons can do, but in a more reliable vanilla way. The upside isn't there, but neither is the risk.

TPMLE
- Gordon Hayward may be wanting to get bought out by the Hornets. In the sale of their team, they may be interested in saving money. It's time to get Hayward on a contender for the end of his career. Bring back Hayward on the TPMLE after the buyout. Give him the two-year Bobby Portis wink-wink deal. Where if he stays with the team and plays well, he could play himself into a bigger contract.
- Bruce Brown is unlikely to leave Denver. He's such a good fit on that team. But I'd love him in Green.
- Divencenzo is a solid option off the bench
- Seth Curry would bring a lot of shooting off the bench

[Goldstar88]

If Simmons gets back to 90% of what he was in Philly, I’d consider it. That’s a really big “If” though.

[Roy H.]

Simmons just can't be relied upon to play at all, let alone perform in the playoffs.

[PAOBoston]

If Simmons wasn’t making $35 mil a year I’d say yes. That contract is just gross right now considering this guy isn’t played basketball in like 3 years. But, in a vacuum, he’s sort of what they need most. A swing with positional defensive versatility with decent size and can rebound/handle ball a bit. 

[RPGenerate]

Yes 

[footey]

Simmons seems broken. I have zero interest in trading for him.  I think Horford has another 2-3 years left of good basketball in limited minutes, and would have more value to the Celtics.   Open to trading Horford for a younger player, but not Simmons.  Maybe to Houston for Garuba.  Could be a decent back up power forward on cheap money.