At this point of the offseason, there really is only one question surrounding the Philadelphia 76ers: What will be the final result of the Ben Simmons trade saga?
The Sixers have been taking trade calls on the embattled All-Star since the season ended back on June 20 after another underwhelming playoff performance. While Simmons does a lot of good on the floor and he impacts Philadelphia in a lot of ways in order to help them win games, his lack of scoring on offense can be a detriment at times.
On the flip side, if he is traded, the Sixers will definitely miss Simmons’ production whether it’s setting up his teammates for open looks and creating shots for them or it is on the defensive end where he can guard every position. The Sixers would also need to play a different style out on the floor without a guy who constantly likes to push the pace on the offensive end.
Veteran Danny Green joined Howard Beck on “The Crossover” podcast and he explained just how much both he, himself, and the Sixers would miss Simmons out on the floor:
It’s tough to say, man because we don’t know we’re gonna get back for him. We may get a point guard, we may get wings. That might change a lot. I might be playing with a with different type of point guard. I might be playing with different type of wings. I might be coming off the bench. I don’t know who we’re going to get and also defensively, I probably become the primary defender. Not that it’s an issue or a problem for me, but we have one less wing defender with him. Now it’s me and Matisse (Thybulle), not saying the other guys don’t play defense, but you talk about our main defenders, Ben was a big part of that and a part of our defense. Obviously, Tobias (Harris) kicked it up a notch and he’s been amazing defensively for us, but Ben was DPOY for us this year. Everybody on our team, of course, we thought he deservedly so should have been Defensive Player of the Year. No disrespect to Rudy Gobert, he had a great year, always, even the last three years, but we thought Ben was able to guard 1 through 5 and set the tone for us and he’s gone. So that changes a lot for, not just offensive but defensively, as well for me. It depends on what we get back in return.
On the Crossover: A very candid @DGreen_14 discusses his free agency, the NBA's shrinking middle-class market, Philly's title hopes and yes, Ben Simmons' future.
Listen/subscribe: https://t.co/lhCvpA2us5 pic.twitter.com/YS1JW3oeJB
— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) August 31, 2021
Green benefited greatly from playing next to Simmons. As a guy who can knock down open looks–he shot 40.5% from deep–playing next to a guy like Simmons on a regular basis definitely helped his game. Green also was able to help Simmons out and give him enough space to operate on the offensive end.
Obviously, Simmons is a great talent, and Philadelphia will miss him, but his flaws are noticeable. The lack of a jumper continues to be an issue with him as he refuses to bring it out in a game situation and it hurts the team on the offensive end of the floor in the playoffs. Unless he comes back with that jump shot, there is not a clear reason to keep him here if they can get an upgrade.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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