Los Angeles Lakers: 3 players to trade for if they miss out on Anthony Davis

3. Ben Simmons

The Lakers Receive: Ben Simmons

The 76ers receive: Lonzo Ball, 4th Overall pick, Josh Hart and a Future lottery protected 1st round pick.

This might seem like an unrealistic trade. Why on earth would the 76ers trade Ben Simmons? Well, there are actually a few reasons why they would do the deal.

The 76ers brought together their version of a superteam with the big four and were unable to get past The Greek Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, while Joel Embiid wasn’t fully healthy and Tobias Harris did not play great, it was the play of Ben Simmons that really let the Sixers down.

With his utter refusal to take a jump shot, it became easy to clog the lane and in turn forced both Embiid and Simmons to occupy the same space leading to neither player playing at their best.

With Ben Simmons due for a contract extension next year, he will most certainly be looking for a max contract. Will the 76ers want to commit max money to Simmons if he hasn’t helped them make the next step in playoffs? Simply put, the 76ers might not get to the next level with Simmons on the team.

So why would the 76ers do this deal? They would get Lonzo for two years on a rookie deal, four years of the 4th overall pick, a solid role player in Josh Hart and a future 1st round pick. They would also have the money to extend Butler and Harris without having to worry about extending Simmons next season.

They could add someone like Jarrett Culver, De’Andre Hunter, Cam Reddish or Darius Garland in the draft and add even more depth with their own pick in the twenties. While they don’t receive a prospect as good as Simmons back, they get two prospects who give them a lot more flexibility, a more well-rounded team and a deeper roster. The floor spacing for the 76ers immediately improves with this trade.

The Lakers in return get a blue-chip prospect on a rookie deal for a year who they can extend and match any offer in restricted free agency. They have another top-level player to sell free agents on and they can go over the cap to extend Simmons next year, meaning that they can add potentially a glut of tier 2 or 3 free agents this summer and still be able to extend Simmons next year.

This could lead to the Lakers having an extremely deep roster which would bode very well for a postseason run.