No one knows Anthony Davis’s future with the Lakers and hopefully he does remain with the Lakers but let’s
say he decides he wants to leave. Wouldn’t the Lakers be smart to pry away Ben Simmons from the Los Angeles Lakers? With a LeBron and Ben Simmons duo I don’t think many NBA fans would see the Lakers at the top of the West against next season but it could lead to LeBron going beyond his contract to remain in LA with Ben Simmons coming over. We know LeBron has been running point guard all season but I think he would allow for Ben Simmons to take over if the Lakers were to bring him on over putting LeBron back at the small-forward position he has played his whole career. We will see how effective LeBron James running point is for the Lakers come playoff time but let’s just assume the Lakers lose in the Bubble and Anthony Davis decides he wants out, trading for Ben Simmons will allow for the Lakers to utilize LeBron differently going into next season and running their offense around Ben Simmons.
I’ll just assume if the Lakers lost in the playoffs that maybe Anthony Davis tells himself LeBron James won’t be any better than he was this playoff run and look to go elsewhere and the Sixers would not be a bad destination for him. He will exclusively play the 4 in Philly and won’t have to worry about anchoring a defense as Joel Embiid will take care of that and not to mention the Sixers will boast arguably the best front-court tandem since Tim Duncan and David Robinson in Anthony Davis and Joel Embiid and more than likely be at the top of the Eastern Conference. As for the Lakers it would be a complete remake as LeBron James’s role will change as Ben Simmons becomes full-time distributor of the ball forcing LeBron James into more of a scorer’s role. I like the trade for the Lakers because Ben Simmons can guard 1 through 3 rather easily and he covers so much aspects of the game from defense,rebounding, and play-making that it will allow for LeBron James to not carry so much of a load like he has his whole entire career.
Joel Embiid has been vocal about wanting to play with Ben Simmons his entire career but we all know the NBA is a business and you can’t get emotions wrapped up where year after year it’s the same tune. Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid have been taking playoff exit after playoff exit and in a way it reminds of the former duo of Towns and Wiggins in Minnesota because Jimmy Butler was made out to be the one interrupting the development of Towns and Wiggins questioning their work ethics and approach to the game. We saw this season Wiggins and Towns were not able to carry the Timberwolves anywhere as the Timberwolves traded away Andrew Wiggins to the Golden State Warriors, I don’t want to say Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid weren’t able to carry the Sixers this season because the Sixers won well over 40 games with them both this season but the roster is poorly built around them. Brett Brown tinkered with throwing Ben Simmons at the 4 switching him off point guard but unfortunately we won’t get to see the new experiment since Ben Simmons will be out for the rest of the season. It’s obvious the Sixers are void of perimeter shooting and someone who can space out the floor for Joel Embiid and that is where Anthony Davis enters since the Lakers are trying to make him into more of a traditional big man and he just wants play like the guard that he is at heart.
For Ben Simmons I think taking the ball away from his hands is a disservice, you want a guy with that kind of size,athleticism,passing ability,IQ,and court vision to have the ball in his hands because he can make so much happen. I don’t think the problem with Ben Simmons is him not shooting the ball, it’s having a team built around his skill-set which the Sixers are not but the Lakers could form. LeBron is not a spot-up shooter but he can serve as a mentor for Ben Simmons and aid him in expanding his game since LeBron shares a lot of the same skills Ben already has. I haven’t mentioned Kyle Kuzma this whole article so I’ll assume the Lakers move him as well as the Lakers would have no room for yet another player who needs the ball to be effective for maybe a Buddy Hield or Danilo Gallinari whom would serve as ideal kickout options for LeBron and Ben. For all I know Anthony Davis remains on the Lakers but just something to think about as no one knows what direction LeBron or Davis’s career will take after the playoffs are over. No one knows what to make of Ben’s future in Philadelphia either as the Sixers will have to make decisions on whether they’ll be bringing back Brett Brown next season and who will they trade out of Joel Embiid or Ben Simmons?
To conclude I’ve learned to accept that any major change can happen within an off-season and the days of 1 player playing for one franchise his whole entire career are over. The way things are looking LeBron James and Anthony Davis look like that unbreakable couple a lot like most NBA fans remember Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan in Toronto but we all know that years of failures together eventually broke those two up as Toronto traded away DeMar DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs in exchange for Kawhi Leonard. Anthony Davis has no obligation to the Lakers, he was traded there and this season gave him an opportunity to compete for a championship teaming up with LeBron, we should not take it personally if he decides it’s time to move on after 1 try at a ring with LeBron. As for Ben Simmons, the Sixers gave him $170 million reasons to remain in Philly another 4 years but how should you feel when the whole city of Philadelphia along with your sidekick Joel Embiid is banking on you to eventually become a player you probably don’t want to become in order to bring a Championship to Philadelphia? Ben Simmons needs to be who he is and playing alongside LeBron in LA will allow that. Same for Anthony Davis, the Lakers want him to be Shaquille O’Neal but he’d rather be Dirk Nowitzki. Give me your thoughts, should the Lakers look to make a swap with the Sixers?
D-NBA 