Would this trade make sense for the Atlanta Hawks?
While the Philadelphia 76ers would surely have reservations about this particular NBA trade scenario, the Atlanta Hawks would need to answer some key questions in their own right.
For starters, is there enough spacing in a half-court offense where Ben Simmons, who is notorious for not shooting three-pointers, is playing off the ball while Trae Young is running a high pick-and-roll with Clint Capela screening on the play?
The opposing team would pre-rotate off Simmons likely out of the dunker’s spot or have a much easier time with close out strategies not having to account for him on the wing if he’s spacing out from there.
Is it worth taking the ball out of Trae Young’s hands to have Simmons create within the half-court? Probably not… Of course, Simmons could run the bench group like he did with the 76ers while his minutes were staggered from Joel Embiid’s at times, but still, there are real limitations.
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The Hawks got to experience first hand the limitations in Simmons’ skill-set and had a better view than any of the NBA’s other teams into the collapse he had on the biggest stage. Would they really want to take a chance on a trade for him? Only they can answer that, but it’s worth questioning.