‘Everyone Wins’ in Proposed 3-Team Blockbuster Nets Trade

Getty Ben Simmons might not be a Net forever.

With all of the drama behind them, the Brooklyn Nets can now set their sights on the future and winning a championship.

They will be going into the year with a Big 3 consisting of Ben Simmons, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. On paper, that looks like a very solid lineup that will give them the chance of winning a championship.

There’s no guarantee those three will play well together considering we’ve never seen them on the floor together despite being teammates last season.

Simmons is an excellent playmaker, but he does not provide much in terms of shooting, and that could prove to be a problem playing alongside Irving and Durant. Those two should get other players all sorts of open shots, so Seth Curry and Joe Harris should flourish alongside them. However, Simmons could prove to be an odd man out in this scenario, and Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey cooked up a 3-team trade that would see him sent out of town.

3-Team Trade Sends Ben Simmons to Hawks

The Nets have the makings of a championship team, but a slow start to the season could cause all sorts of dominoes to fall.

If that happened, here’s a look at a proposed 3-team trade that could work for all sides.

• Nets Receive: John Collins, Eric Gordon and Maurice Harkless
• Hawks Receive: Ben Simmons, David Nwaba and Edmond Sumner
• Rockets Receive: Jalen Johnson, Day’Ron Sharpe and a 2023 first-round pick from Brooklyn

This scenario would see the Hawks create their own Big 3 of Trae Young, Ben Simmons and Dejounte Murray as they hope to go on a deep playoff run.

For the Nets, they would get much-needed big man depth and another scorer in Eric Gordon. The Rockets would get another draft pick to help them build up again.

Bailey argues this trade means “everyone wins” and here’s how he believes that’d work for the Nets.

“Replacing Simmons for someone who may be slightly less talented but is more accustomed to working off of ball-dominant stars makes sense, and John Collins brings an intriguing combination of rim-running and outside shooting ability,” he wrote.

Collins is a big upgrade, but Gordon would also be another important move.

“Add another floor spacer in Eric Gordon and an established veteran on the wing in Maurice Harkless, and this deal starts to become fairly obvious from Brooklyn’s perspective,” Bailey wrote.

Floor spacing is important for the Nets with Durant and Irving, and this deal would get that done for them.

Could This Happen?

It’s hard to imagine a world where the Nets give up on Ben Simmons so soon, especially if it comes without them ever seeing him on the court.

However, there’s no telling how long this Nets roster will remain together, so maybe a deal like this would be needed in the event Irving decides to bolt in the offseason. He picked up his player option, so he’s only under contract for one more season.

Durant has four years left, but Nets fans are wary he’ll want to stay after seeing what happened this summer.