Podcast: Play in new window | Download
Subscribe: RSS
With the NBA’s annual trade deadline approaching on February 10, the basketball league and the fans have declared open season on speculation.
In most seasons, the NBA’s trade deadline rarely sees any kind of “blockbuster” deals where the star players from contending teams are involved in a swap. In most cases, one or two struggling teams attempt to dump their highest-priced player’s contract in order to cut overhead and improve their chances for a better draft pick for next season.
Did anyone say “tanking”?
Of course not! Getting rid of the team’s highest scorer for another team’s benchwarmers doesn’t necessarily mean that one team is throwing in the towel on this season, but that ploy doesn’t fool most of us.
My favorite line is, “Bad teams keep making bad deals, and good teams usually make good deals.”
Keep that in mind when you start seeing the deals start to happen around the NBA this week. If a bottom-feeder’s star player is dealt to a contender, that franchise will promise its dwindling fan base that the draft pick(s) they received in return will be a key part of the team’s future rebuilding process.
Don’t believe them. The deal was made to preserve money and cover annual expenses.
Let’s start with the most widely discussed player who may or may not be traded this week. Ben Simmons of the Philadelphia 76ers is in the midst of a season-long pouting session.
His contract calls for him to be paid a whopping $30 million per year, but he is unhappy because his employer and the team’s fans want him to improve his shooting percentages from the field and the free throw line. In 2021, he scored just 14 points but added seven assists per game.
During last year’s NBA playoffs, the 6’10” Simmons (as usual) became an unguarded man by the opposing teams because of his reluctance to shoot the basketball from outside of a few feet from the rim. If he doesn’t have a clear path to the basket for a layup or short shot attempt, his shooting accuracy is so bad that he wouldn’t have made my high school basketball team.
Opposing teams have resorted to fouling Ben Simmons instead of letting him get a close shot near the basket. Simmons only shoots about 60% from the free throw line (the NBA league average is about 75%), so opponents usually only surrender one point instead of allowing him to dunk the ball for an easy 2-point score.
For reasons which I simply do not understand, Ben Simmons fathoms his basketball skills to be akin to one of the NBA’s Hall-of-Fame players, Magic Johnson.
Earvin “Magic” Johnson was the tallest point guard in the NBA at 6’9” during his playing days in the 1980’s and 1990’s. He was just as likely to whip a clever pass to a teammate as he was to shoot the ball himself. He was a spirited team leader and made all of his teammates better players by keeping them involved in the game.
Like Ben Simmons, Magic Johnson’s shooting skills were rather weak coming into the league.
Unlike Ben Simmons, Magic Johnson quickly recognized this deficiency in his game and worked hard in the offseason to improve his outside shooting skills. He became a reliable scorer and free throw shooter and went on to become one of the NBA’s greatest players.
After being the most sought-after high school talent in years, Ben Simmons played just one season of college basketball for talent-starved LSU. The Tigers allowed freshman Simmons to have free reign on the court as he and the school both “used” each other for their own reasons. “The Ben Simmons Show” at LSU allowed the player to have the ball in his hands most of the time, while thousands of curious fans showed up at LSU’s Pete Maravich Assembly Center in hopes that Simmons would help turn around the Tigers’ basketball fortunes in the SEC.
Though Ben Simmons scored about 19 points per game during his one season at LSU, the Tigers finished 18-15 during his one season in college. Simmons bailed from the school before the end of the spring semester in order to prep for his early entry into the NBA.
*Note to his future NBA employer – Simmons went a mere 1-for-3 from the three point line at LSU for the entire basketball season.
After being taken by the Philadelphia 76ers in 2016 as the #1 overall draft choice after one season in college, Ben Simmons’ shooting statistics in the NBA have remained, well, pitiful.
According to one source, Simmons has attempted 54% of his NBA shot attempts from inside of three feet of the basket. He takes 33% of his shots from just 4 to 10 feet of the hoop, and just 13% of his shots have been outside of 10 feet from the basket. For a player who fathoms himself a point guard, it’s easy to see why other NBA teams don’t bother to guard him unless he drives to the basket.
The Philadelphia 76ers have been very patient with Ben Simmons. After four years and no statistical improvement in his basketball skills, the team has offered help with both his shooting and mental toughness, too.
No, thanks.
Ben Simmons made up his mind after last year’s embarrassing playoff performance that he wants a trade out of Philadelphia and will never suit-up for the team again. Though he has three years left on his current contract, Simmons has made good on that threat to sit-out this year’s basketball season.
Unfortunately for Ben Simmons, his teammates aren’t missing him on the court, either.
The Philadelphia 76ers are doing just fine without their petulant young star as they are currently #2 in the NBA’s Eastern Conference standings. The team’s center, Joel Embiid, has expressed his hope that Simmons will be traded soon, and the team will replace him with someone who is willing to work harder to win an NBA Championship.
Philadelphia’s notoriously vocal fans share Embiid’s sentiment and are looking forward to shipping Ben Simmons off to another city soon so that they may boo him even louder as a visitor.
His decision to stay home this season is costing him a $30 million annual paycheck as the team doesn’t have to pay him while he remains on a self-inflicted vacation.
To grant Ben Simmons his wish, the 76ers have been attempting to find a trade partner for nearly nine months. The Sixers management apparently wants another team’s “star” player along with one or two role players or top draft picks in return for Simmons.
The other NBA teams (like those of us with two eyes) aren’t stupid and won’t take the bait.
In car terms, the Philadelphia 76ers are trying to market Ben Simmons as a seldom-used sleek Maserati, but his CarFax (NBA-version) statistics indicate that his actual value on the basketball court equates to an old Ford sedan. Unsurprisingly, there have been zero takers at Philly’s current asking price.
This weekend, former Houston Rocket shooting guard (now in Brooklyn) James Harden leads the latest Ben Simmons trade rumors. On the surface, the transaction makes sense as Brooklyn has more than its share of players who want to shoot the ball (Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving). Ben Simmons’ shyness at shooting the basketball would seem a good fit with the current Nets roster.
For Philadelphia, James Harden would easily be an improved scorer compared to Simmons, but he is also a notorious ball-hog. Remember, Philly is doing just fine right now without either Ben Simmons or James Harden on the floor.
As the media-fueled rumor mill works overtime trying to speculate on where Ben Simmons may land, it’s quite possible that nothing happens at all.
Since Simmons refuses to report to Philadelphia and play ball, the team isn’t paying him a dime right now. They can afford to be patient and wait for a desperate team.
On the other hand, Philadelphia’s management team is fooling themselves if they don’t realize that Ben Simmons and his associated baggage ($30 million annual salary, shooting woes, and mental frailty) make him an expensive gamble for any other NBA team.
The biggest mistake Philadelphia made was simply drafting Ben Simmons as their #1 pick in the first place. They should now cut their losses, get the best deal they can, and move ahead without him.
The sooner, the better.