The Sacramento Kings should be all-in on acquiring Ben Simmons

The Sacramento Kings should be chasing the big splash to close the offseason.

For the better part of the past two decades, the Sacramento Kings have slowly grown into being a punchline franchise. They haven’t made the playoffs since the 2005-06 season. They also haven’t broken the 40-win mark since then either.

Even when the franchise was enjoying the prime years of DeMarcus Cousins, the Kings were nothing more than a “what if” franchise. Since the team pivoted away from Cousins, the Kings have continued to struggle to experience any kind of consistent success.

They have a talented roster but still feel far away from being one of the top 8 teams in the Western Conference. And because of that, you have to assume that Sacramento would be willing to take a big swing this offseason.

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So far, that hasn’t happened. Yet.

There’s still one more big shoe to drop; the expected trade of Ben Simmons.

Why the Sacramento Kings should be all-in on Ben Simmons

On one hand, it’s easy to see why many franchises wouldn’t be willing to risk everything on their roster for such a player. After all, the last time we saw Simmons playing competitively, he was shrinking when the Philadelphia 76ers needed him most.

He seemed overwhelmed in the Eastern Conference semifinals and looked like a player that was being extremely passive in a big moment. For an all-star, that’s not exactly what you want to see. Especially not from one that you hope is barely scratching the surface on his potential.

At the same rate, that’s also kind of the selling point when it comes to Simmons. He’s an all-star, superb two-way player that has the potential to be one of the best players in the game – assuming he can figure out his jump shot or get to a point where it doesn’t hurt the way he plays the game.

For a team like the Kings, this is the perfect situation that could help get them back on track. Even though the Kings feel great about their young backcourt, in De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton (who is coming off an exceptional rookie season), a disgruntled, potentially discounted, star is what they should be looking for in their attempts to make a big splash.

Despite his recent playoff struggles, Simmons is not different and he fits the bill.

The Kings need a big change. They need to take chances. They need a fresh sense of hope for the fanbase. Simmons is exactly the player that would help fill all those voids.

Simmons is not perfect but here’s the bottom line for the Kings – and this should be the selling point between making a true decision. There’s no one player on the Kings currently that has a higher ceiling than Simmons.

That’s not a fairly outlandish statement and if the Kings agree with that, that should make their pursuit of Simmons all the more simpler.

I understand the hesitance of including De’Aaron Fox in a potential trade. They love his development and believe in him. But, for as good as Fox is and can be, he’ll never be as good as Simmons can be IF he reaches his potential.

And perhaps that’s where the hesitance is coming from – they don’t truly believe that they can help Simmons reach his full potential. That’s essentially what the team would be saying if they aren’t all-in on the pursuit of Simmons.

If the Kings are ever going to break out of their recent (near) two-decade slumber, they’re going to need to make a big splash and take some chances. The slow rebuilds haven’t worked and even though there’s promise, once again, it still feels like the Kings are miles away from being a true, consistent playoff contender in the Western Conference.

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So, why not try to shake things up and add a potentially great player via trade? The Kings should be all-in on Simmons. It wouldn’t make sense if they weren’t.

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