Ben Simmons to the Portland Trail Blazers
The trade: Ben Simmons for CJ McCollum and Robert Covington
The first trade that everyone is throwing out there when it comes to a Ben Simmons deal, is a trade involving Simmons for CJ McCollum.
The reason for that is both teams, the Sixers and the Blazers, are in a sort of stalemate.
The Sixers have made the playoffs four straight seasons, but have yet to make it out of the second round whereas the Blazers have made the playoffs eight straight seasons, but have only reached the Conference Finals once where they got swept by the Golden State Warriors who didn’t have KD due to injury.
Both teams have legit superstars in Joel Embiid and Damian Lillard, but just for whatever reason, can’t seem to get over the hump. A trade between the two seems logical, just to shake things up for both franchises.
However, I don’t believe this deal will happen simply because it doesn’t make much sense for the Blazers.
Portland would have the same issues in the postseason that Philly has had. As a result, they would be in the same spot they have been in the past eight years: making the playoffs but losing in the first or second round.
The only upside for Portland is that Simmons would provide a level of defense that the Blazers haven’t had since Lillard joined the team. However, an offense that features Simmons and Lillard doesn’t make much basketball sense. The only it would work is if Simmons would accept a lesser role and play more of a Draymond Green style of basketball.