Potential Teams for Ben Simmons and the Path to an Unlikely NBA Title

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The NBA trade deadline has come and gone, bringing a close to one of the most active and dramatic five-day periods in the league’s history.

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Kevin Durant is staying put in Phoenix, but he was one of the few superstars on the trade block that wasn’t moved, with the Los Angeles Lakers emerging as a clear winner at the deadline while the opposite was true for the Dallas Mavericks and Chicago Bulls.

While the chaos may be over, there is still one more intriguing domino left to fall and it is one Australian NBA fans in particular will be monitoring closely: the future of Ben Simmons.

Simmons, as expected, was not traded before the deadline. It was always going to be hard for Brooklyn to find a team willing to take on his $40.3 million salary, even if it was an expiring contract.

Plus, the Nets didn’t even end up trading Cam Johnson, so if the right offer wasn’t there for the 28-year-old sharpshooter, you can only imagine there wouldn’t have been much of a market for Simmons.

The same, however, is not true when it comes to rival teams that are interested in acquiring Simmons should he be bought out by the Nets.

It seems like that is highly likely to happen, with prominent ESPN reporters Shams Charania and Brian Windhorst reporting it along with Brooklyn beat writer Erik Slater.

A buyout would involve Simmons and the Nets mutually agreeing to a release, in which the Australian forgoes a portion of his salary.

At the start of the season a buyout appeared unlikely given this was expected to be Simmons’ last big-money deal, meaning there wasn’t much of an incentive for him to give up any portion of his $40.3 million salary.

However, with the Nets tanking and Simmons reduced to a bench role on a team that is going to struggle for wins to end the year, it would make some sense for the three-time All-Star to instead join a contender where he could contribute immediately and potentially earn a new contract.

Simmons, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent next summer, has already been linked to three teams.

Charania said on ESPN that the Los Angeles Clippers and the Cleveland Cavaliers are “potential suitors”, adding that he expects Simmons to “join a contender”.

Brian Windhorst, meanwhile, reported the Houston Rockets are another team that could look at Simmons.

For what it’s worth due to the new CBA, teams that are above the first apron ($178.1 million) can’t sign buyout players whose original 2024-25 salaries exceeded the non-taxpayer mid-level exception of $12.8 million.

That includes Simmons, who is on a $40.3 million contract this season, and as a result means the Lakers, Celtics, Nuggets, Timberwolves, Bucks, Knicks and Suns are out of the running.

But there are three teams that are not only in the running but have already been mentioned as possible landing spots for Simmons.

LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS

Starting with the Clippers, Simmons would make sense given Los Angeles just traded the primary playmaker from its second unit, Kevin Porter Jr.

Although the Clippers added Drew Eubanks to upgrade their backup center spot, Simmons could also give them versatility on that front and allow Ty Lue to experiment with small ball line-ups.

Of course, as is the case with any team he ended up at, the Clippers would need to surround Simmons with shooting and so his usage would be line-up specific.

The Clippers are shooting at a league-average 35.8 per cent clip from deep, but they’re attempting only 33.8 3-pointers per game, which ranks 29th in the NBA, so at least they’re efficient.

If Simmons was to land at the Clippers, he would link up with fellow Australian Patty Mills, who was traded to Los Angeles before the deadline, and former Nets star James Harden.

CLEVELAND CAVALIERS

Moving onto Cleveland, the Cavaliers made a big swing to add De’Andre Hunter but crucially, that trade also put the Eastern Conference leaders under the first apron meaning they can add a player like Simmons in the buyout market.

The focus will be on adding a more traditional big to have as insurance behind Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, but this is a low-risk, high-reward move for a genuine title heavyweight like Cleveland who has a genuine need at the position.

Simmons could operate as the backup point center and would be a good fit in Cleveland’s offence. The Cavaliers play with plenty of tempo, averaging the eighth-fastest pace in the NBA, and Simmons as a plus playmaker and rebounder would be a great addition.

Sure, there are questions as to whether he is the right culture fit in a winning locker room given the concerns over his attitude and application, but it’s not as if Simmons has ever been a particularly toxic presence. Plus, if it doesn’t work out Cleveland can just sit him.

How incredible a turnaround would it be though if Simmons, who admitted he was considering retiring from the NBA last summer, won a championship in Cleveland?

HOUSTON ROCKETS

The other team to monitor in the Simmons sweepstakes is Houston, although this is a Rockets team that averages the third-worst 3-point shooting percentage in the league so the fit could be awkward.

There is, however, an incentive for the Rockets to go after a player like Simmons after losing floor general Fred VanVleet to an ankle injury.

VanVleet is obviously a very different player to Simmons, averaging 34.4 per cent from downtown on 7.8 attempts per game in his second season with Houston.

But adding Simmons would give the Rockets another primary ballhandler off the bench that can initiate the offence and help fill the playmaking void, at least with VanVleet unavailable.

He would also be a versatile defensive piece for a Houston team that already boasts the fourth-best defensive rating in the league.