Ben Simmons to the Sacramento Kings
The trade: Ben Simmons for Buddy Hield
This deal can be explained simply by an exchange between two players that have frustrated their respected franchises.
We’ve covered Philly’s frustrations with Ben Simmons: terrible foul shooting, lack of any sort of jump shot, bad fit alongside Embiid.
As for Hield and the Kings, when his role was diminished to coming off the bench as the sixth man, Buddy was not shy to share his frustrations with the move.
Rumors started to get out that if Hield were to continue coming off the bench he would request a trade. The murmurs died down once Hield was inserted back into the starting lineup, but there is some uneasy tension between him, head coach Luke Walton and the front office.
A one-to-one exchange between the Kings and Sixers could make some sense.
For the Sixers, they would get one of the best 3-point shooters in the league. A player about to enter his prime, and someone who would be rejuvenated in a new system playing for an actual contender.
As for the Kings, like all the other teams mentioned in this piece, as a low-market franchise, their only chance of getting a superstar is by drafting or trading for one.
Adding Simmons would improve the Kings’ defense drastically. The only question though is how Simmons would fit alongside De’Aaron Fox and I honestly don’t know.
I’d imagine Simmons would work best in a Draymond Green type of role, but as I mentioned with the Blazers deal, I doubt Simmons would buy into being a role player.
However, unlike the Blazers, the Kings may still pull the trigger on this deal. The reason for that is the Kings haven’t been relevant since the early 2000s. Trading for Simmons would spark interest into a franchise that has been one, if not the worst, run in the sport over the past decade.