The Celtics Are Interested in Ben Simmons

The Celtics Are Interested in Ben Simmons

Now, how about them damn Celtics? And we are back to another episode of How about Them Celtics. Sam and I are here recording Monday, July 21st. Except that’s a lie. Uh, it’s just me again, and this is not going to be a normal podcast. I’m sorry for the Tuesday people who tune in for full length pods. It’s been quite the day. I was on a flight from I mean, I left my hotel at like 9:00 a.m. in the morning in Vegas time and I landed 30 minutes ago and I came home and Sam is out uh right now as well. So, I’m here recording to give you a quick 10, 15 minute thing maybe on some news and I apologize and we’ll go back to regularly scheduled programming this week and then I go to the Cape and we’ll get mixed up again. But we’re doing our best. We’re going to give you something every day and sorry it’s not the full audio pod. But the Celtics are interested in Ben Simmons and so that’s what I’m going to talk about for 10 minutes today. Audio listers, it may not be quite as compelling as our normal full shows. So, I apologize to you, but I will pull up some Ben Simmons highlights and I will talk about it and I’m sure Sam will have his takes when he gets on the show, too. But, per Markstein uh of the Stein Line Substack, sorry, I’m all over the place to start the video. Um, the Celtics are one of a few teams showing an interest in Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons uh has drawn interest from New York, Sacramento, and Boston alongside the Suns uh who Mark Stein has said has have had some recent dialogue with former Allstar Ben Simmons. Ben Simmons last played for the Clippers last year. Uh didn’t play a ton, but after he was bought out or waved or I I think bought out by the Nets, uh he joined the Clippers. Played 18 regular season games for them. Only shot 43% from the field, averaging three points, four rebounds, three assists. Uh in the playoffs, only played five games, eight minutes, wasn’t really a contributor there. Average about 1 and one. Didn’t do too too much. The last really like impactful, if that’s what you want to call it, season he had was probably Brooklyn in the 23 24 season, but even then he only played 15 games. Like that I mean that’s the Ben Simmons story, right? He played 51 games last season. He played okay with the Nets. He averaged six points, um five rebounds, and uh seven assists in 33 games played, starting 24 of them. That’s not bad for him. Um 23-24 season, 68 and six stats on 58% shooting. who only played 15 games, 42 games the year prior, 58 games the two years prior cuz he missed the 2122 season due to to hold out slback injuries. So like that that’s just the Ben uh Simmons story at this point. He hasn’t been an all-star since the 2020 2021 season. He was an all-star for three years in a row from 2018 to 2021. Um but since then it’s been bouncing around um in and out of the lineup I should say. He’s been in Brooklyn for most of it. spent the end of last season with the Clippers as they tried to make their little playoff run. Do I like it for the Celtics? No, of course not. Like I I I I think there is a small part of me. I mean, one of my oldest and ridiculous takes was if you put Ben Simmons, prime Ben Simmons on the Bucks instead of Giannis, he wins an MVP award. And who knows? I mean, clearly he’s not that type of player. I I I was wrong. That was when it was the full Ben Simmons hype train. When he was the best defender in the NBA, could guard one through five. at his peak he was him. Like don’t get it wrong. Ben Simmons is not even close to the player he once was, but the player he once was was a damn good player, but he’s not that player. Uh and there’s very little hope that he will ever get back to being that player. The only saving grace in this move, um if it were to happen, obviously this is just a rumor by Mark Stein, is that like what’s the what’s the worst that happens? It’s not like the Celtics are in a position where they’re going to be competing for a championship next year by and large. Knock on wood. I mean, you hope hope it can happen, but at this point, this seems just like a reclamation project. Ben Simmons is not getting any younger. Don’t get me wrong. He’s not 25 or 24 and one of these guys who you can bank on the, “Oh, maybe, you know, it can work with us.” This this is not the the Lonnie Walker or the Josh Minot or the Luca Garzas of the world. This is not the guy that you say, “Oh, maybe we’ll we’ll build him up. Maybe there’s untapped potential there.” This is the the you trying to, you know, go going to the guy who has cheated on four women at once and saying we can fix him like that. That’s what the that’s what a Ben Simmons signing would be for the Celtics. He’s 29 years years old and it since they are not in a position to likely compete for a championship. This could be a well let’s try to fix him. Maybe we can be the team to finally fix Ben Simmons. I don’t think it’ll happen. But if you look at the state of their center position, I don’t think Ben Simmons wants to play center or would play center, but you could probably have him guard centers, right? You can put the ball in his hands and lineups with no real center on the floor and he’s the quote unquote real center. Like theoretically, you could probably get away with a lineup of Peyton Pritchard, Derek White, Jaylen Brown, Sam Hower, and Ben Simmons. And Ben Simmons just had to guard the center. I’m not saying I want that to be the Celtics starting lineup. I’m not saying it should be. I’m not saying it would be if the Celtics did take this swing on Ben Simmons. I’m just saying adding him would definitely give you some defensive versatility because for as disastrous as he is on offense and as crazily incapable he is of staying on the floor due to injuries, he’s a damn good defender when he is on the floor. So that’s something you can’t really take away from him. I I enjoy the the playmaking hub really tall guy types of players. As I was talking about this with Bobby K and Noah on our trip to Vegas, like the Draymond Greens, the Damontis Sabonises, the even like Royce O’Neal when he was playing with the Kyrie Nets with KD and James Harden playing as like that connector at the four. Josh Hart in like the ideal world, Ben Simmons can do that, but he just never has been able to because he’s been incapable of adapting to a role and or nor has he been able to stay on the floor in order to play it for long enough. Um, that said, like what’s the worst that happens? They sign him to a one-year minimum and he’s gone in a year. They sign him to a one-year minimum, then just wave him halfway through the season. They give him a training camp deal and like truly, what is the worst possible thing that could happen if the Celtics did sign Ben Simmons? Like, I saw Stu Greeny had a funny tweet on it that I’ll pull up and and read. Um, still Greeny quote tweeted something or discussed the Ben Simmons thing on the timeline today and uh I believe he opened his tweet and he tweeted a lot today. So I’ll find this and or maybe it was last night. He said, “Fuck it. It would be hilar one, it would be hilarious for Sixers fans to see him be good as a Celtic. Two, if he stinks he’s the perfect tank addition. Either outcome works for me. I’m not exactly the the Celtics should tank. I don’t think they’re going to be able to tank unless Jaylen and or Dererick and or Peyton end up getting hurt and you run into a sixer situation like last year and then whatever. Then maybe tank maybe try to get to Bonsa. It’s fine. But like the worst case is he doesn’t contribute to winning him and you don’t play him. Like it’s not like if you sign Ben Simmons it’s going to be for a $14 million MLE deal or a max contract. It’s going to be a minimum, right? If he stinks, don’t play him. Like that’s it’s really as simple as that. And then you can buy him out at the deadline or wave him at the deadline. Like there or trade him at the deadline for nothing. Like there there’s really no downside to signing Ben Simmons to a minimum contract unless you’re of the belief of just give those minutes to Luca Garza. Just give those minutes to Mish Deisha. Just give those minutes to Hower to Shyman DeWal to And you know what? I don’t hate that mindset either. Like I to a degree maybe that is the correct option. Maybe it’s not worth signing Ben Simmons because you’d rather just give these young guys a look. But I I do think the what if he is able to give this team an extra connector or what if he is willing to to play a little bit of center or you can test out lineups with no center in him on the floor. Like I don’t know. I I don’t think they should do it. It’s kind of honestly weird that they’re even interested in something like this. It felt like their plan was very much let’s take these younger guy swings like Garza and May not and I mean obviously got Anthony Simons in in the Drew trade. So, it it hasn’t felt like a a season where they’re willing to take on older vets, but maybe it’s a similar vein. Maybe it’s a we can, you know, a reclamation project of sorts with Ben Simmons. Just not the this guy’s had two years in the league. Let’s see if we can finally break that untapped potential, but instead, let’s see if we can dig under the piles of dirt that have been poured on to what was once a great NBA player and find him underneath there. So, like I said, I I don’t think the Celtics should sign Ben Simmons. I don’t think they will. Honestly, I I don’t think Ben Simmons would choose the Celtics. If he is getting offers from Sacramento, Phoenix, and New York, why would he choose the Celtics? Like, I would choose New York. If I’m Ben Simmons, I can give you some backup four, five minutes, play a Josh Hart role, maybe give you some backup center minutes behind whoever they they roll out there. I’m blanking as to who they got behind Carl Anthony Towns now, but I I do think um they did end up signing somebody um because they let Oh, Mitchell Robinson obviously duh I knew I was creating somebody, but I I think they actually did sign somebody else too. Um or maybe yeah, Gershan Yabis. Um maybe you can play some backup four or five minutes behind there. Even in Sacramento, like at least you have a clear outline of how the Kings would play with him. Just put him in for Sabonis. Let him do exactly what Sabonis does. I just don’t know why he would choose the Celtics. So, I don’t think it’ll happen to be honest. Maybe he’s would choose the Celtics to get as many minutes as he possibly can if he is healthy so he can try to prove it like a prove it deal. I don’t think it should happen cuz I think it’s a little silly. I I now that I’ve like had the whole thought process out of speaking it here, I think he should just give those minutes to the younger guys. Let Kada prove it. I mean, people who listen to this know I’m not the highest on Kada, but with as many opportunities he’s he’s inevitably going to get, I’m very intrigued to see what he can do with him. And I I hope he ends up blossoming into this great player. I just I I don’t know. I truly don’t know what KO will be like if you give him regular minutes. But I do think the pressure of not having to win every night will give him the freedom to actually let it see uh or shine through, I should say. Give Josh Min some four minutes. Give Sam Hower plenty of minutes. Like Walsh, Shyman, Ugo, like you want to open up those um minutes for those guys. So I don’t think Ben Simmons makes a ton of sense. If it happens though, I don’t think people should freak out. Like again, what’s the worst that happens? The worst that happens is he’s ass. Celtics have him on a minimum and they buy him out at the deadline. He goes somewhere else and it is what it is. Um and he doesn’t have to play because he’s on a minimum. Like it’s he’s not, you know, contractually obligated, which I don’t even think is a thing, but um something to keep an eye on. Again, very sorry for the shorter the shorter show today on a Tuesday. Um I know you guys are used to the longer pods and we’ll hope, excuse me, get those back into the rotation as soon as possible when we’re back on Eastern time schedules and I’m not traveling, etc. But appreciate you all for tuning in. Make sure to leave a like, subscribe, and we’ll see you guys next time as we get rolling again. So, goodbye. Taco. Come on. Taco. Taco’s having some fun here. That is bogus. These guys are ridiculous. These guys are ridiculous. [Music]

Sam and Jack (just Jack) are back with another Boston Celtics podcast. In this one, they discuss the Celtics being interested in Ben Simmons. Let us know your thoughts, and as always, thanks for listening to How ‘Bout Them Celtics!

Podcast Twitter: @HowBoutThemCs
Sam’s Twitter: @SamLaFranceNBA
Jack’s Twitter: @JackSimoneNBA

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