Simmons Wants Trade / Not Going To Report To Camp (CBS Report)

[tstorey_97]

Game 7

1:12 seconds left.
Celtics - Bucks

Celtics 97
Bucks 100

Schroder drives on Giannis in lane and kicks out to Simmons at 16 feet....Holiday wacks Simmons for shooting foul.

Simmons gets one of two.

The opposing team will HAVE to hack Simmons and it would be a disaster in Boston.

It's almost Halloween as it is.

[Vermont Green]

I like Simmons as a PF on the Celtics, all off court stuff aside.  Call it point PF or whatever you want.  But my fear is that it won't work out any better than Antonio Brown worked out on the Raiders.  He is now a head case in the league of Antonio Brown.  I am not sure if he is anywhere close to hitting bottom.  I don't think I would trade for him straight up for Horford at this point.

[Moranis]

I like Simmons as a PF on the Celtics, all off court stuff aside.  Call it point PF or whatever you want.  But my fear is that it won't work out any better than Antonio Brown worked out on the Raiders.  He is now a head case in the league of Antonio Brown.  I am not sure if he is anywhere close to hitting bottom.  I don't think I would trade for him straight up for Horford at this point.

He is no where near the head case Antonio Brown is.

[blink]

I like Simmons as a PF on the Celtics, all off court stuff aside.  Call it point PF or whatever you want.  But my fear is that it won't work out any better than Antonio Brown worked out on the Raiders.  He is now a head case in the league of Antonio Brown.  I am not sure if he is anywhere close to hitting bottom.  I don't think I would trade for him straight up for Horford at this point.

With his big contract, combined with the uncertainty of where his head is at, just a horrible combination to risk very much on.  Those last two years of his contract at 38 mil / 40 mil are just umm challenging if he doesn't get his mojo back while at the same time improving his shot.  Philly is in a a rough spot.  But someone is going to take a flyer on him.  Philly isn't going to let this go on all season.

[Vermont Green]

I like Simmons as a PF on the Celtics, all off court stuff aside.  Call it point PF or whatever you want.  But my fear is that it won't work out any better than Antonio Brown worked out on the Raiders.  He is now a head case in the league of Antonio Brown.  I am not sure if he is anywhere close to hitting bottom.  I don't think I would trade for him straight up for Horford at this point.

He is no where near the head case Antonio Brown is.

I said "in the league" of Brown in terms of degree of headcaseness.  I am not sure it matters who is more or less.  He is actually doing exactly what Brown did in terms of the teams that were paying him.

Plus, Brown finally hit bottom but only after 3 teams and being out of the league I think for a whole season and with Tom Brady taking him under his wing.  That is what it may take for Simmons.  Or maybe 2 teams and a half a season, I don't know, but does it really matter?  Maybe LeBron taking him under his wing?

No thanks.

Now if he can show some contrition and get back with the team in Philly, on the court and playing well, then I reconsider.  But as it stands, No.

[gift]

I'd still take him in Boston as long as the C's kept Tatum and Brown.  I think he'd be a beast next to those 2.  No idea how to make a trade with the Sixers work, but I'd be all for it.

I'd absolutely be on board. Tatum/Brown/Simmons

Still?  Wow.  I was with you on this a year ago, not so much now.  Just way to much drama for what he gives you on the court.  Things will still develop but I need to see Simmons acting like an adult, like a professional, before I want him in our locker room.  Right now, this is deeper than a "change of scenery" type of problem.

Think of Antonio Brown.  He had to bomb out with 3 teams before he finally got it.  Simmons is like Antonio Brown when he was on Pitt.  Just the beginning of the downward spiral.  Get yourself to practice and in a game and I could change my mind but it doesn't seem like that is where this is headed.

This is definitely not how you handle a "change of scenery" problem, but I do see that as the main issue. The talent and fit is too much to pass up if you can manage to keep Tatum and Brown.

he's not that talented and the fit is purely speculative.  where would he fit?  he's inferior to our wings (the J's), he provides no outside shooting so he's a poor fit as a guard even with his passing skills and defense and he's not a center (never mind a center/big that the current NBA almost requires to have outside shooting). 

He hasn't improved his game since his rookie year when he was looking like a Magic-like player.  He's actually regressed to the point where he's not a scoring threat unless on a fastbreak.

Your right, he's a poor fit as a guard, is not better than the J's, and is not a center. That makes him the perfect power forward, which coincidentally, is a position of need for the Celtics.

Perfect power forward, except that he insists he’s a PG and chafes at anyone who suggests otherwise.

Doesn't matter what you call him. He'd be the best passer on the team and operates in spots that allow Tatum/Brown to be volume guys and role players to spread the floor. Defensively, that trio is insane together. I think they'd be easy to build around.

If you pretend there is no set of off-court problems here and just look at basketball fit, I would agree that Boston might be the best place for Simmons to play in the NBA.

But what a fantasy that is. We are talking about a Rich Paul client here. That alone should end this conversation.

The things that derailed Simmons in Philly don't get any easier here. He still wouldn't be the man. He'd have an even tougher fan base, higher expectations, an even more no-nonsense team management, and he'd have to work behind two stars instead of one. He'd still have to face free throws at the end of playoff games. How could anyone think this could work out in Boston? When has this town ever embraced a quitter?

Can we just agree to let this go?

Oh, I'd love it if Simmons wasn't a diva or a Rich Paul client. But I don't see any evidence of inherent problems. Simmons' version of being "the man" is running the offense anyway. He'd have that in Boston. People discount how much of this problem is ultimately due to an Embiid/Simmons fit. Simmons is on a discount right now for unprecedented reasons.

[ozgod]

They got a win tonight but hopefully Simmons keeps on destabilizing them all the way to the trade deadline 

[moiso]

I like Simmons as a PF on the Celtics, all off court stuff aside.  Call it point PF or whatever you want.  But my fear is that it won't work out any better than Antonio Brown worked out on the Raiders.  He is now a head case in the league of Antonio Brown.  I am not sure if he is anywhere close to hitting bottom.  I don't think I would trade for him straight up for Horford at this point.

He is no where near the head case Antonio Brown is.

At least Antonio Brown seems to thrive in big moments and obviously works to be the best player he can be. 

I think the Sixers would be pretty dang scary if you plug Brogdon and Levert into that lineup and subtract the chemistry issues on and off the court that Simmons brings.  Obviously Embiid doesn't want anything to do with Simmons anymore.  It seems ridiculous on the Sixers' part to continue bring Simmons around the team.  They are willing participants in this soap opera.  If they like how it's going so far they should keep it up.

[boscel33]

Some idiot on Twitter just suggest a Jaylen Brown for Ben Simmons trade.  #cmonman!

[dannyboy35]

Some idiot on Twitter just suggest a Jaylen Brown for Ben Simmons trade.  #cmonman!

  I think there’s a chance Celts would empty the cupboard ( outside the jays of course) to attain Simmons . But they’re probably thinking that blocks them from the next “ star” they could maybe pry away. Just a guess. I hope Ime knows to make Jaylen our point guard now because Smart is not nearly good enough. We seemed to give up on the smart pg experiment pretty early. Jaylen is gonna be able to beat most guys off the dribble. I’d rather run offense thru Jaylen and Horford.

[Big333223]

Some idiot on Twitter just suggest a Jaylen Brown for Ben Simmons trade.  #cmonman!

lol

[Birdman]

Heck u got 3 guys that wants out so Philly trades Simmons to Sacramento for Bagley & Hield..all 3 want a change of scenery

[BringToughnessBack]

Some idiot on Twitter just suggest a Jaylen Brown for Ben Simmons trade.  #cmonman!

Classic! Imagine our end of the game minutes if Tatum goes cold. Simmons could not be on the court as well as they would just foul him or not guard him. In essence, Tatum would have 2 people guarding him if he were on the floor at the end of the games. Even a drugged up Stevens( ) would not make that trade in a million years.

[Moranis]

Brown for Simmons was the type of thing floating around last year, but Simmons doesn't have that value right now. 

I tried to come up with a trade for Simmons that I think actually makes sense for all teams involved, and this is what I came up with

BOS - Simmons, Looney, Wade
GS - Horford
CLE - Wiggins, Langford, Pritchard, Milton
PHI - Love, Sexton, G. Williams, BOS 22 1st, BOS 24 1st

So Boston post-trade

Starters - Smart, Brown, Tatum, Simmons, R. Williams
Main Bench - Schroder, Richardson, Nesmith, Hernangomez, Looney/Kanter
Deep Bench - Parker, Fernando, Wade

Assuming Philly comes down on their value, then Cleveland seems like the team that may not do this as they might rather just try for Simmons themselves, but they don't give up any 1st's in this, which I think is key for them and I do think Wiggins would be a nice fit for them.  GS drops a ton of a salary and I do think Horford would be great for them as they do lack someone like him i.e. a center that can defend and pass and shoot. 

[moiso]

Andrew Bogut on Ben Simmons- "Its not good for either party, in my opinion.  Ben's side of things, training with your phone in your pocket, not being glued into what's going on,"  Bogut told SEC on Wednesday.  "Unfortunately, he has form doing these kinds of things, we experienced it with the national team." 

This kind of goes against the people saying he's generally all in on his teams.  He seems like an aloof guy who does whatever he feels like doing.