LA Clippers rumors: Why a Ben Simmons trade is not worth it for franchise

Whenever Ben Simmons rumors flare up (which tends to happen very frequently these days), the LA Clippers always seem to be a team in the discussion for trading for the three-time All-Star.

There are truly two sides to who Simmons is as a player. On one side, I agree that he’s an already below-average shooter (at least for a point guard) who had whatever shot he had completely disappear in the playoffs this year. On the other side, the two-time All-Defensive selection is an elite defender, a really good passer, and a very good rebounder (again, at least for his position).

I don’t want the Clippers to trade for Ben Simmons, but for the fans that do: What are you willing to give up? The realistic trade pieces on this team would be Ivica Zubac, Terance Mann, Marcus Morris Sr., and Luke Kennard. The 76ers were at one point rumored to want four first round picks in exchange for Simmons, which is obviously an extremely high amount of value.

Therefore, the 76ers would probably want all four of these, and they’d also probably want us to throw in cash for more compensation, which we don’t have. I don’t even think this trade would be fair for us.

The LA Clippers would be giving up too much if they traded for Ben Simmons.

First, if the LA Clippers traded these four role players for Ben Simmons, they’d be negating the benefits that Simmons provides.

Simmons is certainly a great rebounder for his position, but so is Zubac. In fact, Zubac actually matched Simmons’ rebound average this year. If the Clippers trade their top rebounder in Zubac, they only have Serge Ibaka and Harry Giles as true big men on this roster.

They gain rebounding with Simmons, but they lose out of rebounding and depth while trading Zubac.

In addition, they lose so much three-point shooting by trading for Simmons that it’s unbelievable. If they trade Morris for Simmons, they’re trading their top three-point shooter from 2020-2021. Morris shot 47.3% from deep this past year, which was the second-best mark in the NBA.

Simmons, on the other hand, has hit a total of five three-pointers in his entire four year career. He hasn’t hit one in the playoffs. His 2020-2021 30% (3 of 10) shooting percentage form behind the arc was the best of his career.

His shooting has become a literal joke. If we trade for Simmons, we not only lose big man depth and rebounding in the frontcourt, but we also lose so much shooting that it’s not even funny. We’re a three-point shooting team, and losing our top three-point shooter from last year while gaining the worst three-point shooter of all NBA point guards makes no sense.

Next, let me pose a question:

Is it in the realm of possibility that Mann becomes as productive of a player in his career as Simmons?

I certainly think so. His efficiency speaks for itself and he literally put our team on his back in Game 6 of the Western Conference Semifinals to end Utah’s season early without Kawhi Leonard.

That game proved his ceiling. He put up 39 points on 15 of 21 shooting (and 7 of 10 from deep). He even had two steals in the contest.

Well, Mann certainly isn’t as big and as good of a passer as Simmons, but what he proved he can bring on offense is levels ahead of what Simmons is capable of if he still can’t make a clutch free throw (Simmons shot 34.2% from the line in the postseason last year) or any three-point shot.

Mann has shown so much potential that Stephen A. Smith even claimed that we may not have even wanted to re-sign Leonard.

That’s bogus, but the point is that Mann literally looks like he can develop into a star in these next few years. Mann’s ceiling can absolutely reach the type of production that Simmons has brought to the court. They have different styles of play, but Mann could turn into just as productive of a player.

Lastly, this team is well over the cap right now.

If they trade Kennard to get rid of his contract, guess what the 76ers are going to want us to do?

As I mentioned before, they’re going to want some cash in return to help out with Kennard’s deal that he doesn’t completely deserve.

So, we would be gaining a terrible shooter, and not only trading a great one in Morris, but another in Kennard. We wouldn’t be saving money, as the Sixers are going to want cash in return for Kennard’s contract.

So we are still well over the cap, traded two of our best shooters (on a team that relies heavily on shooting and three-point shooting in particular), traded a young up-and-coming star in this league who we have for cheap right now, and traded much-needed big man depth who is also the best rebounder on our team.

In return, we get that rebounding back in Simmons’ abilities, along with an elite defender and very good passer. The issue is, we don’t get our valuable big man depth back, and we lose so much shooting that our game plan will have to be drastically different. Also, we may be gaining a great defensive player, but we’re losing multiple good ones in Morris and Mann.

I just don’t see it. I don’t want to give up this package for a player who has glaring holes in his game, and even has appeared scared to shoot in the postseason.

We already had a great team this past season, and should once again this year. The roster looks special, and I wouldn’t want to disrupt that chemistry.