The rollercoaster ride that is the Ben Simmons-to-Sacramento rumors have encountered another hiccup; The Athletic’s Sam Amick reported two weeks ago the Sacramento Kings made it clear to the Philadelphia 76ers that neither De’Aaron Fox nor Tyrese Haliburton will be included in their end of any Simmons trade. I strongly agree with the Kings regarding this decision; Simmons is arguably better player than either Fox or Haliburton right now but the latter two provide more potential in playoff game scenarios than what Simmons has shown thus far, despite them not having made the show just yet.
Also according to Amick, the Kings expect “The core of their roster will remain the same heading into training camp later this month”, and from the common man’s point of view, that doesn’t look like a sign of a deal to come. But where’s the fun in that? Simmons is bound to get dealt sooner or later as his camp and the 76ers engage in their own Wild West-like standoff. He loses value each day with teams knowing there’s little chance the 76ers start the regular season, let alone another playoff run, with him on the roster. And well, this is a Kings blogpost so….let’s imagine his fit as a potential Sacramento King!
Analyzing how a possible trade addition of Ben Simmons can impact the Sacramento Kings offensively, defensively, and in a playoff scenario.
Our very own Austin Carroll drummed up some interesting trade packages for the disgruntled 76ers All-Star and we’ll use these to get this piece started off. Since Fox and Haliburton seem to be out of the picture, that leaves us with one package left.
This trade proposal sees the Kings part with freshly drafted prospect Davion Mitchell, three-point sharpshooter Buddy Hield, solve their own disgruntled player issue in Marvin Bagley and include three first-round draft picks (though irrelevant, we’ll say these picks are for 2022, 2024, and 2026 due to the Stepien rule) to acquire Simmons.
I would add Seth Curry to this deal from the 76ers side because A) His contributions are met, and even exceeded, with the addition of Buddy Hield and B) Including his roughly $8.2 million salary lowers the luxury tax burden the 76ers will experience this season. Thus, the final trade ends up being Simmons and Curry for Mitchell, Hield, Bagley, and the aforementioned draft capital. Not a half-bad return for Philadelphia and Monte McNair marks his first huge splash as Kings GM.