Boston Celtics Rumors: 3 rumored Atlantic Division trades and how they affect the C’s

76ers get Kyle Lowry, Ben Simmons heads to Warriors and Raptors rebuild

Of all the hypothetical trade scenarios we’re covering in this list, this idea is without a doubt the most far fetched and the least likely to happen.

Recently addressed by our sister site Raptors Rapture, a rumor that’s been going around has a three team deal between the Philadelphia 76ers, the Toronto Raptors and Golden State Warriors. In this hypothetical exchange, the 76ers decide to cut ties with current All-Star point guard Ben Simmons and, instead opt for Kyle Lowry to man the position alongside Joel Embiid.

Simmons, instead of seeing a clean swap with the Raptors, finds himself heading to the Bay Area and, in turn, the Dubs ship out their first round pick in this upcoming draft to Toronto.

In fairness to this deal, it appears all parties would end up benefiting. Though Lowry is on the wrong side of 30 — 34-years-old — and Simmons is still only 23, his style of play would actually fit in a lot nicer with the sixer’s core group; he is a fine facilitator who has no problem with playing the role of Robin and can help this struggling perimeter shooting team space the floor (shoots 37 percent from 3 for his career).

As for Simmons heading to the Warriors, we believe Alexandro Fidanza put it best:

"There is probably not a better team for Ben Simmons to be on than the Golden State Warriors. He’d be surrounded by only the best shooters, including Stephen Curry who he can run the pick and roll over and over again…. If you are the Golden State Warriors in this trade, this is a trade you make 100 times out of 100."

With the Raptors getting the Dubs’ pick in this scenario — which is likely to be a top-5 selection — they would be in the running to add on a potential successor at the point in LaMelo Ball. At 18-years-old a player like Ball would be better suited to run alongside current face of the franchise Pascal Siakam (26) and, in turn, keep them in the conversation as contenders for a much longer stretch than what they currently have with the aging Lowry.

If this were to actually become a reality, the most likely threat to the Boston Celtics in the Atlantic Division would probably be Toronto. The C’s, with their young core of Jayson Tatum, Kemba Walker, Jaylen Brown, Gordon Hayward, and Marcus Smart are in the great position of being able to compete both now and for the foreseeable future. However, if the Raptors were to do this deal and land Ball to pair alongside Siakam, they’d be rostering a potentially lethal dynamic-duo that could wreak havoc in the east for years to come.

Sure, we do believe the 76ers would remain a competitive team with Lowry, but that would only be for a few years and, frankly, though we believe the veteran would be a nice addition to the team, we are not under the belief that they’d be better than what they currently are with Simmons in tow.

All in all, however, we started this slide off by stating this is the deal we least suspect to actually turn into a reality. With this in mind, it really does not appear to have any danger of effecting the C’s.

Yes, crazier things have happened and, typically speaking, where there’s smoke often there’s fire. However, to us, it would appear that this proverbial smoke is more likely the product of one’s inhaler rather than any chimney.

Because of this, Celtics fans should feel little to no concern over this hypothetical deal making it’s way into reality.