With high expectations of reaching the NBA Finals this season and being the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference, everything seemed to be going smoothly for the Philadelphia 76ers in the postseason until they ran into the Atlanta Hawks. The 76ers had beaten the Hawks twice in the regular season, but they were unable to advance past them in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, as they lost this series in Game 7.
There are definitely a lot of things the Sixers did wrong in this series, but a lot of the blame so far has been put on Ben Simmons.
The former No. 1 overall pick has struggled on offense his entire career and has never been known to be a primary scoring option. This was exposed greatly by the Hawks in this series not only in the half-court, but at the free-throw line as well.
Simmons went to the free-throw line 45 times in this series, the third-most times out of all players in this series, and he only shot 33.3% from the line. Between his poor free-throw shooting and his minimal scoring production (9.9 points per game), Ben Simmons definitely did not help the 76ers chances of winning and moving on in the playoffs.
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This is why his name has come up a lot recently in trade rumors. The Philadelphia 76ers have not been clear on their intentions to keep Ben Simmons long-term, but it is expected that they will entertain offers for him in the offseason. Could the Cleveland Cavaliers use this opportunity to add an All-NBA performer that they so desperately need?
He has struggled over the years, but overall, Ben Simmons is still young and growing as a player. Defensively, he is one of the best players in the entire league and with the potential to still be a factor inside the paint on offense, Simmons is worth taking a chance on from Cleveland’s perspective.
At this point, the Cavs have nothing to lose, so why wouldn’t they target Simmons should he become available in trade talks? He may not be one of the best offensive players in the league, but Ben Simmons can do a lot of things to help make Cleveland relevant again, which is why they should explore trading for him this offseason.
