It’s CONFIRMED…

It’s CONFIRMED…

It’s confirmed the New York Knicks are favorites for one of the most highly coveted free agents left on the market as the Knicks very clearly have shown who they have interest in after a move that made things even more clear of a pathway for the Knicks to go ahead and make a signing while the front office still is split on who that final deal should be. But now we know that the Knicks do have serious interest in none other than Ben Simmons and they are now the favorites to land him. And we’re going to break all this down. What’s up guys? Welcome back to Nicks Digest. It’s Chris here. If you guys are part of that 60% that’s not subscribed, make sure to subscribe for daily Knicks updates. We have a bunch of updates coming out on the Knicks and you do not want to miss any of them. Before we know it, it’s going to be training camp and there’s going to be a lot of stuff coming out about this team, the lineups, who’s making it and you do not want to miss any of that. But let’s jump into it. also other signings coming for training camp deals as well. But jumping right into things guys, there’s been a lot of discussion surrounding the New York Knicks and Ben Simmons over the past couple of weeks. The Knicks have not made it hidden at all that they have a lot of interest in bringing in Ben Simmons for multiple reasons. He’s 6’10, can be a lead ball handler and is elite def and is an elite defender both on the perimeter and down low, giving a lot of versatility to a Knicks team that desperately could use some more size and ball handling off the bench. And Ben Simmons is the guy who has both those things. Now, obviously, there are the weaknesses. The fact that he doesn’t look at the hoop, let alone take a jump shot ever. However, he also still has shown that he has positive impact. A commenter recently mentioned on a recent Ben Simmons video that I did that the Knicks were not getting stops at crucial points against the Detroit Pistons. And Ben Simmons can add that. He could be a point of attack defender or an offball guy and add a ton of defense to a Knicks team that could use another stopper outside of Male Bridges, OG Anobi, and Deuce McBride, especially when it’s on a Mike Brown team and we’re already going to see a very heavy offensive focus. Adding another defensive presence would help for that reason. Even if the offense is going to be very limited, the defense will not be. and also he’s still a great passer and can be a lead ball handler taking more pressure off of Jaylen Brunson to leading him to being that sort of lead guy going forwards. Now in a recent update from Evans from Brett Seigail, Boston and New York have been at the forefront of conversations surrounding Ben Simmons after the Celtics just signed Chris Buchet. It appears as if the Knicks are the favorites to bring Simmons in on a minimum contract. Simmons last year put up five points per game, five rebounds, and five and a half assists. He was solid. I mean, on defense, defensive box plus minus was a 1.8. Meanwhile, he played a lot of time with the Brooklyn Nets on a net on a bad team. He put up positive impact. His value over replacement player was a point4, meaning the teams were usually better with him on the floor compared to who was replacing him in those rotations. Still shooting 52% from the field as well. 6’10, good defender, good playmaker. There is a lot to like about Ben Simmons. What you worry about is the lack of offense, the lack of any interest in shooting the ball. And also, is his back okay? Is he going to play? Is his mind all right? There’s a lot of those concerns that we do have to hold about Ben Simmons. But when things are going for Simmons, they are going quite well. Now, as we mentioned, as Shams revealed a few days back, free agent Chris Buché had agreed to a one-year $3.3 million contract with the Boston Celtics. Now, Buchet lands a guaranteed deal with the Celtics and and is expected to have a significant role in the front court, a similar role to what Simmons would have had, except Boston decided to go with Buché, who has shown a lot throughout these last couple of years as a very significant piece of the Raptors. The Canadian native put up 10 points per game last year with four and a half rebounds, 49% from the field, and 36% from three, including nearly 40% on corner threes. He’ll fit in very well to that Celtic system. He’ll likely have some games where he is starting at the five for this Celtics team that really does not have a big man figured out. So Buché is going to be a very key front court player for the Celtics at least for next season and possibly for longer. I do expect that he’s going to have a good year and what then when the Celtics are contending they’ll keep Buchet around considering he does know how to be in winning environments and has been a solid player with the Raptors for a long time before now evidently leaving for Boston. Now, on top of that, Simmons, obviously, his career has been up and down. Over the beginning part of his career, he was great. He was putting up double figures all the time. He was absolutely excellent. I mean, there were moments when things were really, really good for Simmons. We saw the man have years where he put up 17 points and also be one of the best onball defenders in basketball with eight rebounds or nine rebounds and eight assists, averaging nearly a triple double in just his second season. for his second, third, and fourth seasons in the NBA. Simmons, who was playing point guard, made the All-Star game before holding out with a back injury. Things started to fall apart in the playoffs in the 2020 2021 year. And then after that, he didn’t play, had the back injury and was more holding out because he didn’t want to play for the 76ers anymore. He was just working out at St. Joe’s University before getting traded for James Harden. And then on top of that, he got traded to Brooklyn where his numbers fell off an absolute cliff. He was still putting up all right stats. Seven points, seven rebounds, se or seven points, six rebounds, six assists over a steel. Still that elite defense and he was playing significantly. But then things fell off. He only played 15 games the following season, 2023 24. And then in 2425, he played 51 games on the season, 33 with the Nets and 18 with the Los Angeles Clippers, where things really did start to take a dip for him where he only averaged around three points and four rebounds and three assists per game with the Clippers in a lot more limited minutes than he had ever played before. But things had been trending downwards for Simmons for a while. So the Knicks would have to bank on Ben Simmons coming back and being able to be a positive impact player for this team. Something that is far from guaranteed when looking at the way that Ben Simmons’s career has gone in this situation. When we look at the Knicks depth chart, what we see is a team that would use Ben Simmons somewhere in that forward role. I mean, right now we see Pakome Doier is listed as the backup small forward. Simmons would fit in somewhere around there with that backup unit. And if Mitchell Robinson is starting, we see Josh Hart off the bench. But still, that’s the concern is that Josh Hart, Mitchell Robinson, and Ben Simmons. You’re likely going to spend a lot of time with two non-shooters on the floor on a Mike Brown team, which is where my concern comes for Simmons, especially if he’s not going to end up playing. Then you just have Ben Simmons on your roster, and he’s not doing anything. I think he would be committed with the Knicks team, and I do think it would be a sign of commitment if he were to go out and sign with the Knicks. But also, you still see a guy like Landry Shamid who put up six points, two assists, and a rebound in the four playoff games that he got significant minutes, shooting 50 54% from the three. And that’s the real question that we ask ourselves, and Ian Begley mentioned it. Ben Simmons is certainly a candidate for the Knicks final roster spot. As of earlier this week, New York continued to show strong interest in signing Simmons as teams in on Simmons await his decision. He’s garnered interest from several teams around the league. The Knicks also have maintained interest in Landry Shamid for that final roster spot. Shamid who last season put up six points, one rebound with the Knicks shooting 40% from three and 47% on corner threes was excellent. And his numbers are even better than this. He just started really slowly after coming off that shoulder injury cuz he wasn’t getting significant minutes. He wasn’t getting consistent minutes and he also wasn’t trusting that shoulder of his. But once he got back into the rotation, things went really well for Landry Sham. Somebody who Knicks fans were calling to see get minutes. So when you consider all of that, I do think there’s a situation where we see Shamid and he does become a real option for this Knicks team. The Knicks also had interest in Chris Buchet, but they did move away from that as time went on. They want somebody who could be a guard and that’s kind of the thing with Shamid. Yeah, he’s a wing. He’s not a lead ball handler, though. And the Knicks want a lead ball handler. They clearly do. Leon Rose has made that very clear through who the Knicks have held interest in in guys like Simmons and Malcolm Brogden to say really the most interest. And also at times other guys as well. I guess they don’t believe that Jordan Clarkson can be that guy. So, we go back to Ben Simmons and I mean Nick Knicks Reddit was asked about this and Knicks fans almost three to one. Really? Yeah. Almost three to one voted for Landry Sham over Ben Simmons. Some fans did vote neither and they’d rather see someone else get that spot with fans basically saying like exactly what I said earlier. If Ben chooses the Knicks, I’d like to think that it means he’s motivated and wants to help a contender, but there’s no way of knowing with him. So, it’s easier to just take Landry Sham with new slang 212 also saying I think based on the issues the Knicks have had the last couple of years in terms of not having a deep enough bench/injuries/ forcing our hand in the playoffs. A factor in this decision should be who do you trust more? They needed to be in the rotation in the postseason. To me, the answer is clearly Shabid. He provided good minutes last year and opened up the floor for other players to operate. Simmons’s inability to score from basically anywhere would clog everything up. And I don’t think you could have such an offensive liability on the floor in the playoffs. So that’s the thing. You don’t think Simmons and Hart on the court for a fourth quarter playoff game is a good idea. Someone said as a joke because what we saw already was this Knicks team struggle when big men were put on Josh Hart. They’d do the same to Simmons. He’s not going to do anything about it. So that’s the issue at hand that we would see with Simmons. He would basically be a threearter player if that come the playoffs. Landry Sham would not be. So that’s the fear with Simmons. He’s not going to magically start shooting jump shots. So we have to decide, is it willing to clog the paint more in a Mike Brown offense? Will the pace be fast enough that the lack of freelance slower offense will help the Knicks? That’s what we have to ask ourselves. That’s what I’m asking you. What do you think? Should they go out and get Simmons? This has Knicks fans very split and I want to see what you guys are feeling with your opinion on it. I will post a poll as well on Nick’s Digest to discuss that. Guys, like this video, subscribe, turn on post notifications. Have a great day and go Knicks.

Chris Gallagher breaks down the Knicks being favorites for Ben Simmons.

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