In the aftermath of the Philadelphia 76ers falling to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 7 at home in their Eastern Conference semifinal series, much of the criticism has targeted All-Star guard Ben Simmons. He came up small in Game 7, taking five points and four shots, and the talk around Simmons has been focused on trading him.
ESPN’s Kendrick Perkins recently suggested the Sixers trade Simmons to the Minnesota Timberwolves for D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley. That would not be the worst move in the world and both players can be good fits around Joel Embiid.
Now, NBC Sports Boston’s Brian Scalabrine is suggesting the Miami Heat should get in on the Simmons sweepstakes:
I’m not just saying this because we do our fair share of talking about culture club. I think the Miami Heat can fix him. I really believe that. I don’t think a lot of organizations can fix him. I think the Miami Heat could fix Ben Simmons. If I’m Pat Riley, he would be my whale, and Erik Spoelstra is not like a traditional coach. He’ll run wacky things for Ben Simmons, by the way, Erik Spoelstra put James Johnson at the point guard and played James Johnson at the point a bunch of possessions. I’m telling you, the Miami he could fix him, and Erik Spoelstra as a coach can fix Ben Simmons.
Where will Ben Simmons be playing next season?@Scalabrine thinks the Miami Heat would be a great spot#HeatTwitter pic.twitter.com/gI4xZ9jUP6
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) June 25, 2021
The issue with this is Simmons and Jimmy Butler have already played together in the past, and it did not exactly turn out great for Simmons and the Sixers. On top of that, there is not a lot that the Heat can offer the Sixers in exchange for a player of Simmons’ caliber, but a guy like Riley could always come up with something to make a deal work.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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