Boston Celtics: Ben Simmons viewed as bad fit for Cs

As of late, the trade rumor mill has been churning, and the Boston Celtics have been one of the most buzzed-about teams connected to this avenue in the NBA.

As many of you may already know, perhaps the biggest name attached to the Cs as a person of interest over these past several weeks has been estranged 76ers star Ben Simmons, who has sat out all of this season thus far in the hopes of being dealt.

Last week, reports surfaced stating that Boston’s front office reached out to Philadelphia in regard to the availability of the point guard but, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Daryl Morey’s asking price was a tad bit too high, suggesting that any deal for Simmons would have to include the likes of star wing, Jaylen Brown, heading back in exchange.

To us, while we may believe that adding the All-NBA floor general to this core would be a solid move to make, giving up Brown is simply a non-starter for any deal in our humble opinion.

To the folks at Hoops Habit, however, with JB in town or not, they are under the impression that adding Ben Simmons to this core would not be such a hot idea.

In fact, they believe it would make the Boston Celtics even worse.

Citing his lacking shooting range as the biggest reason for why it is believed Simmons would not bode well in Beantown, writer Zamir Bueno believes that such an addition would only make things more clunky for franchise cornerstone, Jayson Tatum:

"The lack of shooting on the roster has led to opposing teams leaving these players wide open on offensive possessions. 85.7 percent of the Celtics’ three-point attempts have been uncontested this season, and they are averaging 33 open three-point shots per game.Unfortunately, the team has only converted 34.8 percent of these shots. Boston’s inability to make open threes has been the catalyst for them being 20th in three-point percentage over the first nine games, shooting 33.2 percent on 38.5 attempts. The team’s three-point shooting issues have dragged down the offensive field goal percentage, too, as three’s account for 42 percent of their total shots.Consequently, they are currently 24th in the league, shooting 43.3 percent from the field on 91.7 shots per game through the first 10 outings. Simmons would only make these problems worse as he has made only five threes in four seasons on 34 total attempts. Consequently, opponents would leave him wide open, just as they do most Celtic players, unless the C’sdecides to make him the primary ball-handler.Ben Simmons is a player who has excelled in transition throughout his career, averaging five possessions per game in his first four seasons. He has shot 62.6 percent during these possessions on 2.7 shots per game. The field goal percentage has allowed him to average 4.2 points in transition – 26.4 percent of his total production."

To be fair, Bueno does have a sound argument considering the fact that Simmons has a non-existent jump shot and the Boston Celtics could certainly use for more trusty shooters within their rotation.

That said, the point guard is truly a remarkable talent who would likely only make the lives of those around him — particularly Tatum — much easier on the offensive end what with his tremendous court vision coupled with his high-end drive to dish the rock.

The reason why we at HH are opposed to seeing a deal for Ben Simmons at this point is unequivocally due to the astronomically high asking price set by Philadelphia’s front office.

If the Boston Celtics were able to snag him for a deal that didn’t involve any of the Jays being sent packing, we believe such a move would absolutely be worth making for the franchise. However, until that happens, it’s best to stay away from the former first overall pick.