The Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers are in similar positions. Both are navigating the early part of the 2021-22 NBA season without their starting point guards and there is no concrete timetable as to when they could get them back.
The Nets are without Kyrie Irving because he remains without the COVID-19 vaccine. Based on the mandates in New York City, he is not eligible to play in Barclays Center or Madison Square Garden without it.
The 76ers have been in a standoff with Simmons throughout the offseason. Simmons wants to be traded, but no team has come close to the asking price that Daryl Morey has set.
The organization is hopeful Simmons will return to the court with them, but given how tenuous things have gotten recently as Simmons refuses the team’s help in some matter, it is anyone’s guess if or when he returns.
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With both teams being stuck between a rock and a hard place, could they alleviate each other’s issues? One NBA executive recently weighed in on the possibility of the Nets and 76ers coming together on a deal that swaps Irving and Simmons at HoopsHype.
“I would’ve said Philly legitimately made sense with the swap of Ben Simmons and Kyrie,” one of the executives told HoopsHype. “That’s a team I could’ve seen who’s going for it and needs a scoring guard. That’s literally the only one I could see.”
The Philadelphia 76ers would love to add a perimeter scoring threat the caliber of Irving to their team. He and Joel Embiid would be deadly in pick-and-roll action and it would push Tobias Harris into a third scorer’s role, something that would make him that much more dangerous.
As for the Nets, Ben Simmons would provide them with an ace defender. But, his fit would be a lot more awkward with them than Kyrie Irving with Philadelphia.
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Simmons wouldn’t have a real place in the Brooklyn Nets’ offense. They are not going to take the ball out of Kevin Durant and James Harden’s hands, so where would Simmons fit? Without the ball in his hands to use his playmaking, Simmons isn’t a very effective or dangerous offensive player.
While the executive is right that this trade would make some sense, it is not one that seems likely to happen any time soon.
