Would you rather build around Zion Williamson or Ben Simmons?

Would NBA teams rather build around Zion Williamson or Ben Simmons?

Obviously, this is to say nothing of Williamson going to Philadelphia. The Pelicans giving up on him and trading him straight up for a guy who has no trade value right now would be career suicide for the front office.

If Embiid and Simmons doesn’t work, then Embiid and Williamson would be another version of that same problem. More than that, both Embiid and Williamson could be classified as injury-prone.

Relying on your top two players when both have medical histories like Embiid and Williamson is beyond risky. But what about every other team? If you gave a small market like the Orlando Magic or Sacramento Kings the chance to start over with a blank slate and choose one of Williamson or Simmons to build around, what would they do?

The allure of what could be with Williamson might still be too much to pass up. However, for somebody who feels like a dirty word around the league at this point, Simmons has an awful lot going for him. He certainly has the experience and the accolades to back up the fact that he might actually be the safer choice to build a roster around over Williamson.

This is a question we might not ever get the answer to if Williamson doesn’t reach his potential and Simmons doesn’t get traded. But both in a vacuum, and if you’re the Pelicans, you can make the case that Ben Simmons is the better player to build something sustainable around. At least we’ve seen what that can look like already.