Los Angeles Lakers: How LA can land Ben Simmons in a three-team trade
By Jason Reed
The three-team trade to get Ben Simmons on the Los Angeles Lakers
The team to call is the Toronto Raptors. The situation that the Lakers and Sixers are taking advantage of is Kyle Lowry’s free agency. The 76ers do not have the money to outright sign Lowry, but in a sign-and-trade, they can take on his salary and essentially flip star point guard for star point guard.
The Lakers also utilize Dennis Schroder’s free agency to make this happen. The 76ers won’t want Schroder for Simmons but the Raptors are more likely to take something rather than nothing for Lowry. For this deal we put Schroder’s price tag at $25 million per season, which is right around what he is asking for.
From the Raptors point of view, this is a prime example of getting something for nothing. Now, you could make the case that Toronto could trade for Ben Simmons but the front office would likely recognize that they would not be much better with Simmons and instead get more value out of younger pieces.
THT is the prized part of this deal as he has more value than most lottery picks this season. He has proven he can contribute in the NBA and is exactly the kind of player that Toronto can mold. Kyle Kuzma has potential to be a 20-point-per-game guy and Schroder can help the team be mediocre for the time being before eventually being flipped to a contender for more assets.
If I am Toronto I would much rather have this return than just Ben Simmons straight up. Simmons is better than any of the other pieces but the depth and youth is more important for Toronto, especially when we are talking about getting something for a free agent.