Ben Simmons would have likely been traded at some point

When you look at the Philadelphia 76ers roster right now with Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris as their powerhouse trio, it is hard to see where Chris Paul would fit in with this group. They probably could have figured out ways to make it work, but Ben Simmons is useless offensively unless he is making plays since he cannot shoot and Joel Embiid is such a ball-dominant player, as he is taking over 20% of his team’s total shots per game. 

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Chris Paul is one of the best point guards in league history and is not really a guard that can play off-the-ball, which is why Ben Simmons likely would have been traded if the 76ers were to get Paul. 

It just would not make sense for the Sixers to keep Simmons given the lack of offensive production he would give them. Sure, he is still one of the better defensive players in the league and they could have put him at power-forward to keep his defense, but overall, they would be losing so much offensive production by not having the ball in Simmons’ hands as the point guard. 

Somebody would have had to sacrifice if the 76ers had both Paul and Simmons, which was probably one of the breaking points in this deal for Chris Paul. The fit just did not make too much sense playing wise and ultimately, it would not have been a surprise to see Ben Simmons playing elsewhere if the 76ers had gone ahead and traded for Paul.