I think I rather just stick with OUR draft picks. Hopefully Stone is able to troll his friend and drive the price of Simmons down until Morey is giving assets to move him. As for now the Rocket point of view should be Alpi, Wood, Porter & Green (birds in hand) are our future and it’s bright & to undo that core will be a BIG cost.
I was totally against trading Harden for Simmons. I’m in the Simmons sucks camp. But, I’m coming around to the idea of trading a combination of Wall, Gordon, Augustin House and a FRP or two for him and getting a depth chart like below. KPJ/Thomas/Brooks Green/Nwaba/Christopher Tate/Martin/Exum Simmons/Theis/Garuba Wood/Sengun Simmons at the 4 could really work with the playmakers that the Rockets already. Imagine how difficult a 4/5 PnR with Simmons/Wood would be for teams to defend. Shooting would still be a problem. Wood is a good shooter for his position and I think Green is going to be a great shooter, but everyone else outside of Brooks is a question mark. KPJ, Tate and Martin all have to take a big step forward in 3pt % for this experiment to work. Oh and of course it would be great if Simmons could gain the confidence to shoot from 3 as well. He’s only 25 so hopefully the Rockets can fix his shot enough so he can hit around 30-32%. I think there are a few hang ups to getting this deal done and the below is just my speculation with no sauces but.... 1. I think it’s going to be a big deal which takes time. I think Wall is going to LAC and Philly isn’t interested in all of the spare parts. So, the Rockets are probably working other teams to find someone who is willing to sacrifice draft capital for Kennard, House, Augustin, Gordon Ibaka or Bledsoe and not send back long therm salary in the process. 2. The Rockets being tight fisted when it comes to sending out draft picks or young players to offload Gordon or Kennard. 3. Recently signed players being untradable until early October 4. Contract buyout negotiations/alterations are taking place before the trade is commenced. 5. Maybe TF is being cheap and doesn’t want to buyout Ibaka AND Bledsoe, who knows.
It wouldn't be hard because Simmons' defender can go under the screens every single time because he's not a 3 point threat, thereby giving the defender an option to trail/double Wood or reset inside the 3 point arc to get ready for any potential dribble drive by Simmons. Simmons would then still have the ball at the top around the 3 point line, now wasting time off of the shot clock and having to find another teammate to bail him out.
Do not let the hate for Ben Simmons cloud your judgment, lol. Ben Simmons as a Point Forward on a rebuilding team to go along with the Young players is good... Look where the Rockets were just one season ago.
It's insane to me that we're even in the discussion. What an unbelievable, unparalleled fall Simmons has had over the last year. This will go down in NBA history one way or another.
“Simmons and his camp want him to be the star, the Magic Johnson, running the show, right, the centerpiece of the offense…This is not a player that is going to just come in and stand in the dunker spot or be used as a center on offense and he has the backing of the strongest agency in sports to get him into a situation that will be implemented as such.”
who says we can't with Ben Simmons? I'm not against tanking if that's the plan, but I'm very okay with the Rockets winning this year too.
Since Stone is actually considering this, I'll go ahead and say that I believe Silas can be creative enough to use Simmons in a featured role, while continuing to develop J Green and KPJ. Think of just having a system of multiple players that can attack from multiple areas on the court. I think it's doable. Not a Simmons fan, but seems like I better buy into the idea.
I don't think the problem is Simmons the basketball player, its his mentality and expectations. Simmons despite not able to shoot is still a starter and a damn good one. He can absolutely be better, a star possibly. But he does not look willing to work for it and expects it to be given to him. I don't doubt Simmons could put Houston back into a competitive position but at what cost to Green and co.... These guys don't need toxic entitled players around them. Maybe if Simmons liked Houston, and felt like a fresh start was possible here. I doubt it, dude is likely thinking in his head he is the new face of The Lakers franchise when LeBron leaves/retires...
lol Magic Johnson? How about we aim a little bit lower first, Ben? Let's get to championship-era Draymond Green first before we get to Magic.
I'm sure we could but it would be a toxic environment. I'm of the belief if Wall and Simmons are traded, there will be one or two more teams involved.
