Should the Los Angeles Lakers buy low on Ben Simmons via trade?
After his terrible performance in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Semi-finals and the worst playoffs of his career, why would any team, especially a contender like the Los Angeles Lakers, trade for Ben Simmons? He proved that he has a mental block that is preventing him from shooting the basketball and that is clearly holding him and his team back.
However, in what could be the lowest point of his young career, he still had 13 assists and played solid defense on Trae Young, who is one of the quickest point guards and one of the toughest players to defend in the NBA who finished the game shooting five for 23. He even still had the confidence after the game to point that out when asked about his poor performance.
Simmons still has an elite skillset of playmaking, defending, and size that can not be taught. It has also been proven throughout the history of the NBA that one skill that players can improve upon is their shooting.
To even get the ball rolling on a Ben Simmons deal, it would take the team that drafted him to give up on their former number one overall pick and admitting the process is over in Philadelphia. They have sent mixed signals in the wake of them get bounced from the playoffs this past weekend.
Their star Joel Embiid did not back him up after the loss and pretty much threw him under the bus in his postgame press conference, and he consistently looked frustrated in his body language during crucial mistakes Simmons made down the stretch.
Doc Rivers did not even have an answer when questioned if he can be a point guard on a championship team in that same postgame press conference.
Yet one day after the loss they were already doing damage control and they were talking about having a plan to improve Simmons’ shooting struggles. They might even consider switching him to primarily shooting right-handed.
If the Sixers did look into trading their unique point guard with the shooting yips, one intriguing trade partner could be the Lakers, who clearly lacked a facilitator outside of LeBron last season, and Simmons is a Klutch Sports Group client.
Look how much point guard Markelle Fultz improved when he was able to get out of Philadelphia, Simmons could possibly improve at a similar rate on a new team.
Would the Los Angeles Lakers even have enough trade chips to start the conversation for trade for Ben Simmons?
The answer is probably no, but if they did attempt a move for him it might look like something like the following.