While there are a host of arguments for why the Warriors should or shouldn’t trade for the three-time All-Star, there is one issue that should stand above all others – the team’s current roster construction.
Two months ago, prior to the draft and free agency, I wrote this piece on how the Warriors could revolutionize the NBA again. I floated a hypothetical line-up that involved Simmons, one that still has a massive hole should a Simmons trade now materialize.
Until the Ben Simmons saga ends with a trade to a new team, speculation and discussion will continue to surround the Warriors’ potential interest.
Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Ben Simmons. That’s a highly talented quartet capable of almost anything. It really comes down to the fifth player, a quality wing player that’s currently occupied by Andrew Wiggins.
But we know Wiggins would have to be involved in any potential Simmons trade. No one is disputing that Simmons holds greater value purely from a basketball perspective, but there’s a reason some Warriors fans wouldn’t even trade the rejuvenated Wiggins for him straight up.
Simmons brings some of the same positives and negatives that Green does, whilst the loss of Wiggins would open up a massive hole at the small forward position.
So who would fit that role?
Andre Iguodala knows the system, but his lack of outside scoring threat only exacerbates the Simmons/Green conundrum. Jordan Poole is good enough, but it would require Thompson to move down a position which isn’t ideal coming off two major injuries.
Jonathan Kuminga could be great in that role in the long term, but for now, he’s not starting on a team aiming to win a championship.
It leaves one player – Otto Porter Jr. He would be the perfect fit in this five-man starting line-up as someone who doesn’t need the ball in his hands to be effective and could shoot 40 percent from three whilst playing high-level defense next to Green and Simmons.
But there’s a reason the Warriors got him so cheaply in free agency.
He simply hasn’t been able to get on the floor in recent seasons. Whilst Porter Jr. could be a fantastic acquisition for the Warriors, his long injury history means they simply shouldn’t be expecting a whole lot.
It’s for this reason why a Simmons trade still seems difficult to comprehend, as does the Warriors letting go of Wiggins. However he’s viewed by fans league-wide, his value to the Warriors is strengthened by the fact there’s not much wing depth behind him.
If the Warriors believed Porter Jr. could play 30 minutes a night across a whole season then the Simmons experiment could work, yet that idea seems fanciful at best.