Los Angeles Lakers superstar target: Ben Simmons
While Ben Simmons is still a player on the come up, he isn’t the player that the NBA world thought he was going to be.
When Ben Simmons entered the league as the 1st overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, the second coming of LeBron James was expected and it was easy to see why.
A 6″10 points forward, with incredible speed for his size, and ability to get to the basket at will in transition and with fantastic playmaking ability.
While Simmons entered the league as a well-rounded player, there were certain areas of his game that he was expected to get better in such as 3-point shooting, mid-range shooting, and free-throw shooting. He just needed to learn how to shoot the ball.
4 years later and that is still Simmons’s main problem.
While he holds an excellent career field goal percentage of 56.5%, this is mainly due to easy baskets such as lobs, fast-break dunks, easy baskets, and getting points in the paint.
Playing alongside fellow Superstar Joel Embiid has been difficult for Simmons. Both players do their best work in the paint and with Embiid considered the alpha dog and franchise player of the 76ers, it means that Simmons (unless he learns how to shoot), will not reach his full potential.
The good news is Simmons has time on his side to develop the jump-shot.
The bad news is, it might not be with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The 76ers seem to have taken the team as far as it is going to go. They loaded the team with stars last season adding Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler and it wasn’t enough.
They reloaded this season by losing Jimmy Butler but adding Al Horford and Josh Richardson and are currently the 6th seed in the Eastern Conference.
Something needs to change and it looks like Simmons will be on the move sooner rather than later.
With Simmons signing a new 5-year contract with the 76ers in July 2019, it makes trading for Simmons difficult.
With Simmons, the Lakers may have to play the long game.
If they land Giannis Antetokounmpo in the Summer of 2021, then Simmons will not be a Laker.
If they don’t land Giannis Antetokounmpo, the Lakers can stack the squad with some fantastic trade pieces and potentially trade them for Simmons. They could trade players like Kyle Kuzma and Danny Green for draft capital or even potentially use them in a trade.
The pathway to Simmons joining the Lakers is difficult, but then landing Anthony Davis wasn’t a piece of cake either.
Not ideal scenarios for the purple and gold but if they can get their hands on Simmons, they could potentially help him realize his potential.
If Simmons learns how to shoot, he will transform into a completely different monster.
The long game seems like the best route for the Los Angeles Lakers to land Simmons but the wait could potentially be worth it.