NY Knicks: Ben Simmons Would Be A Perfect Superstar Trade Target

According to Bleacher Report, Ben Simmons has told the Philadelphia 76ers that he would like to be traded and will not be reporting to training camp.

The NY Knicks would be wise to have a long internal conversation about if Simmons is the right superstar to acquire, as other Daily Knicks writers have alluded to before.

Listen, I know the game. A controversial headline gets clicks. Throw something wild out and watch people interact with it. I can assure you, this is not that.

No, this is serious.

There’s this mailing service where you can order fruits and vegetables that do not look presentable by supermarket standards. Otherwise, they are perfectly tasty, perfectly nutritious additions to your diet.

Too many people think Simmons would be like that delivery service only worse.

As if you’d order a shipment, and when you open the box all the fruit would be rotten and covered with flies.

“WHAT’S IN THE BOX???”

“Oh, just the dying remnants of a once-promising basketball career.”

This lends itself perfectly to my first point. There will never be another 25-year-old, former number one overall pick turned All-NBA third-team, three-time All-Star, two-time All-Defensive Team level player available at this low trade value.

Should the NY Knicks trade for Ben Simmons?

The Sixers may have a steep asking price, but the market is going to drive the cost down pretty rapidly.

His performance in the playoffs last season did no favors to his league-wide perception.

When it comes to the Knicks, bargain-priced ugly fruit might not be the best analogy for Simmons.

One time I got a pair of refurbished Beats headphones for about a third of the sticker price.

Nothing was wrong with them other than the fact that a previous owner had opened the box and then changed their mind.

That’s how I view Ben Simmons.

He would be a great fit next to RJ Barrett and Julius Randle. Simmons has never finished below the 89th percentile in finishing at the Rim per Cleaning the Glass.

Imagine what last year’s offense would have looked like if Elfrid Payton had possessed Simmons’s top-tier finishing ability.

If, like me, you believe an additional playmaker would have done wonders to help Randle in last year’s playoffs, Simmons is a great option there.

Defenses would have to choose to either let him attack the rim 1-on-1 or provide help, where he could take advantage of his passing ability.

All this and we’ve said nothing about his elite play on the defensive end. I’m not sure there is a better point-of-attack defender in the entire NBA right now.

Again, he is far from perfect. He’s ugly fruit. He’s refurbished headphones.

He most definitely needs to see a sports psychologist after passing up that dunk against the Hawks. There’s something there that needs unpacking.

I also recognize the shortcomings in his offensive game. I just think those issues would be perfectly covered playing alongside Barrett and Randle and the strengths they bring on the offensive end.

“PLUS HE’S ONLY 25! HE FITS THE TIMELINE!” they scream from somewhere in Australia.

And this is where I calm down the choir and take a deep breath in the pulpit.

The biggest issue here is that while Simmons may fit the Knicks timeline, I’m not sure the Knicks have what the Sixers are looking for in a trade partner.

This is primarily due to the fact that salary matching is tricky right now.

The only way I found to make it work today is not a favorable package for the Knicks. If the Sixers can wait until the recently-signed restrictions are lifted, it becomes much easier to match salaries.

Still, if the asking price is right and the timing clicks, a fresh start in a system that feels tailor-made for his skillset could take an already decorated 25-year-old Ben Simmons AND the rising young Knicks core to new heights.

Simmons is an oddly shaped carrot, but he’s a carrot nonetheless. And oddly shaped carrots come at a discount.