Houston Rockets: Was the Nets offer the best one for James Harden?
Pros and cons to the 76ers offer
The biggest pro if the Rockets would have sent James Harden to Philadelphia instead of Brooklyn would be bringing in a franchise player in Ben Simmons.
Simmons, only 24, has already established himself as one of the NBA’s stars who has a bright future ahead of him. The 2017-18 Rookie of the Year and two-time NBA All-Star has a wide variety of skills on both sides of the ball.
Offensively, Simmons is capable of putting up a triple-double on a nightly basis as he is an excellent passer and rebounder and can get to the rim and finish.
Defensively, Simmons is a top-five defender in the league. The 2019-20 All-Defensive team member and NBA steals per game leader has extremely active hands which result in a lot of steals. Simmons also has a unique combination of speed and size as he is quick enough to stay in front of anyone while also having the size to contest anyone’s shot.
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The Rockets would have also received Matisse Thybulle who is another excellent defender but does not provide a lot offensively and some future draft picks. Although the amount and type of picks were not clarified it can be safely assumed that it was nowhere near what Brooklyn gave up since Philadelphia would be parting ways with Simmons.
The biggest downside to the 76ers offer is that Simmons is not a shooter, having only attempted 26 3-pointers in his career making three of them.
The fact that Simmons relies heavily on getting into the paint to get his points lowers his ceiling significantly since he had no shot of replicating the type of scoring Harden brought to Houston.
While Simmons would have improved the Rockets ball movement and been a much-needed boost to the defense, his inability to shoot from range would have presented many problems and not be a great fit for what Stephen Silas wants his team to do offensively. Pairing Simmons in the backcourt with John Wall would not be the best fit considering that Wall likes to be a ball-dominant player.
Simmons is also in the first year of a five-year, $177 million deal which would have limited the Rockets’ options to bring in other key pieces to surround Simmons.