Getty Ben Simmons might not be on the Nets for long.
The Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks both won the same number of playoff games this season, which isn’t good for either side.
For the Nets, their season came to the close by the hands of the Boston Celtics through a sweep. Ben Simmons was meant to make his Brooklyn debut in the playoffs against Boston, but a setback stopped that from ever happening.
Simmons eventually underwent a successful back surgery and the plan is for him to be ready for the start of the next season. Whether that ends up being with the Nets or another team entirely remains to be seen. It would certainly be strange to see him leave Brooklyn without ever playing a game with the team, but there are all sorts of trade proposals that would send him out of town.
The latest one floated by Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz would send the star player to the Knicks of all places in exchange for a former All-Star.
Simmons for Randle
GettyJulius Randle might find a different New York home.
Julius Randle has a contract extension kicking in next year that will balloon his salary up to $117 million over the next four years. After his regression this season, the Knicks could be looking for an escape route from that contract.
In trading him away for Simmons, they’d get out from under that contract and they’d also land their lead guard of the future. Here’s the proposal:
New York Knicks Receive:
- PG Ben Simmons
Brooklyn Nets Receive:
- F/C Julius Randle
- G/F Alec Burks
- 2023 second-round pick
“A healthy Simmons is an elite-level defender and terrific playmaker at 6’11”, someone who could thrive under Tom Thibodeau,” wrote Swartz. “Moving off Randle’s contract should be fine by New York, especially with second-year power forward Obi Toppin making a leap last season. A young core featuring Simmons, R.J. Barrett, Cam Reddish, Immanuel Quickley, Toppin and others would actually look quite promising.”
It seems like it’d be a big win for the Knicks and it’d allow the Nets to land a young front court player that would pair better with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Irving being on the roster means Simmons wasn’t needed at the point, so a trade like this would certainly make some sense for them as well.
The only major hangup would be the fact that the two are in the same division trading stars to each other. Nobody likes to see their ex win the break up, but that’d be something on the minds of both the Knicks and Nets if a trade like this actually happened.
What Will Happen?
GettyKevin Durant could find another star.
The Nets giving up on Ben Simmons before he ever plays a game with them would be a bizarre sight to see, but this is the NBA we’re talking about.
By the time he finally suits up to play a game with them, it’ll be more than a year since he last stepped foot on the court during an NBA game, and that will be him coming off a back injury. The Nets have a tight window to win a championship during the remainder of Irving and Durant’s prime, so perhaps they could flip him.
For the Knicks, acquiring a 25-year-old budding star wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for them, especially if they don’t have to give up much to get him.
READ NEXT: Nets Star Ben Simmons Retweets Video Demanding Apologies