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Golden State Warriors: Why they shouldn’t trade for Ben Simmons

By Josh Cornelissen

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 23: Jordan Poole #3 of the Golden State Warriors goes up for a shot against Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center on March 23, 2021 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 23: Jordan Poole #3 of the Golden State Warriors goes up for a shot against Ben Simmons #25 of the Philadelphia 76ers at Chase Center on March 23, 2021 in San Francisco, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /
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Draymond Green, Golden State Warriors
Ben Simmons, Golden State Warriors Photo by Sean Gardner/Getty Images /

Why the Golden State Warriors shouldn’t trade for Ben Simmons: Lack of spacing in their best 5

The Philadelphia 76ers tried to build a championship contender around a center in Joel Embiid and a ball-handling power forward who doesn’t shoot in Ben Simmons. Not simply a bad shooter from outside, a la Giannis Antetokounmpo or Draymond Green, Simmons does not even attempt outside shots. For the entire 2020-21 season, including playoffs, he attempted just 38 shots outside of the paint, and just 10 outside of floater range. He took 563 at or around the rim.

For Simmons to thrive, he needs to be deployed on a team that can completely space the floor around him. Even with Embiid hitting 37.7 percent of his 3-pointers, his favorite spot to set up shop was on the block. That instantly erased the space Simmons needed to attack the paint and set up shooters. Put even one more middling shooter on the court — Matisse Thybulle or Tyrese Maxey, for example — and suddenly the Philadelphia offense was reduced to Embiid taking a contested shot.

The question for the Golden State Warriors is thus whether they think they can properly deploy Simmons on offense, or if he will strangle their spacing just as he did Philadelphia’s. Unfortunately, the Warriors already deploy a spacing-challenged point forward in Draymond Green. While Green is both historically and currently a more willing shooter than Simmons, he only hit 27 percent of his 3-pointers this past season.

Trading for Simmons would mean more than simply acquiring a selectively acquired bench piece; Simmons is both too good and too expensive for that. Yet closing a game with both Green and Simmons chokes the court. Guarding actions with Stephen Curry or Klay Thompson would be a lot easier for defenders comfortable sagging off Green or Simmons.

The Warriors have helped to mitigate that problem by putting the ball in Green’s hands to run the offense. That doesn’t help lineups with both Green and Simmons since only one can handle the ball. It also would mean that the Warriors would have to completely overhaul their bench to focus exclusively on shooting to try and maximize the fit around Simmons. When shooting is the most coveted skill in the game, that becomes that much harder to do.

The Warriors were already a top-five defense last season but struggled at times on offense. That problem would only intensify in the clogged-paint environment that would exist with both Simmons and Green sharing the same frontcourt.

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