Does this trade make sense for the Sacramento Kings?
At some point, the Kings are going to have to make a move for a well-known, All-Star-like talent, so why not pull the trigger now for a guy like Ben Simmons? He is definitely not a finished product yet and has a lot of room to grow in order to be the two-way star he was destined to be when he was drafted 1st overall in 2016, but Sacramento has time to wait.
Overall, they are really lacking talent on their roster right now outside of their starting unit and their roster could look completely different next season due to NBA trade rumors and guys being free agents.
Harrison Barnes, Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III are all guys rumored to be available via trades this offseason and with Richaun Holmes, Hassan Whiteside and Maurice Harkless being free agents, who knows what this Kings team will look like during the 2021-22 season.
Losing Holmes in free agency could really hurt this team and outside of Fox/Haliburton, they really do not have any productive guys who are under contract long-term. Bringing in Simmons creates some stability within this Kings organization and he could actually thrive as the leader of a young team, even though he is a primary ball-handler like De’Aaron Fox.
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Figuring out who will have the ball when is not too big of a problem, but in transition, the Kings could actually be a tough team to stop with Fox and Simmons pushing the pace. Not to mention, if they had Simmons and Holmes, they would have a very strong rebounding frontcourt as well.
Quite honestly, the Kings would lose some shooting, trading away Buddy Hield and a low post threat offensively in Marvin Bagley III, but Ben Simmons helps them out on defense, as well as on offense both in transition and in pick-and-roll sets. Philly has utilized Simmons as their primary ball-handler over the years, but I really do believe he could thrive as the ball-screener in pick-and-roll sets, diving to the rim for easy alley-oop finishes.
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He is not going to turn into a great shooter in the NBA and really is not going to be utilized on offense as a scorer outside of the paint, which is why in Sacramento, Ben Simmons could actually become the best version of himself. Being 7-feet tall and as athletic as he is, there is no reason why Simmons cannot be a threat to drive to the rim and score, which is exactly the kind of player the Kings would have him be.
Sacramento needs to make some kind of a splash to their roster in terms of adding an All-Star-level talent and leveraging Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley III allows them to do so. Giving up the 9th pick and a 2023 1st round pick hurts the Kings’ young core, but Simmons himself is about to turn 25-years-old and can be a young asset they build with for a foreseeable future.
