The latest rumor swirling through the NBA is that Portland Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard is eager to play with benched Philadelphia 76ers talent Ben Simmons.
The news of Lillard taking a liking to Simmons has a lot of people talking and speculating if the Trail Blazers will take a chance on the troubled yet promising 76ers player.
Damian Lillard would like to play with Ben Simmons in Portland, per @ShamsCharania and @sam_amick
Acquiring Simmons 'would instantly improve' Portland's 30th-ranked defense pic.twitter.com/YbYbwNF53j
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 6, 2021
But is it the right choice or is it just a short-sighted attempt to keep Lillard happy – something that probably won’t happen anyway?
2. What Happens Without Dame?
If the Blazers make a trade for Simmons, they are going to have to give up a lot.
You can say goodbye to CJ McCollum along with many others, possibly including any starter whose last name isn’t Lillard.
In other words, the Trail Blazers would have to move heaven and Earth and cobble together a hefty trade package in order to land Simmons.
The idea is that Simmons to Portland would make Lillard happy and would ensure that the All-Star point guard stays with the team for a few more seasons.
But what if that doesn’t happen?
There is a chance that Simmons comes to the Blazers but Lillard is still wooed away by another team and demands a trade soon.
This is especially likely if Simmons comes to the team and they fail to get far in the postseason.
If Lillard still leaves the team within the next few seasons, they will be saddled with Simmons and a bunch of bench players.
Simmons has some serious talent – especially defensively – but it’s hard to build a solid team around him.
This trade idea only works if Lillard is there for the foreseeable future.
If not, the Blazers will have Simmons and…only Simmons.
In that case, the team would lose McCollum and many others as well as Lillard too.
That’s a nightmare scenario that should be scary enough to turn Portland off to this possible trade.
1. The Past Could Be The Future
Simmons was the star player of the 76ers…until he wasn’t.
After his awful postseason last year, Simmons quickly soured on the team and made it very, very obvious that he didn’t want to play for them ever again.
He even went so far as to sit out of training camp and cut off communication with the team.
ESPN Sources: Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons will not report for opening of training camp next week and intends to never play another game for the franchise. Simmons hasn’t spoken to team since a late August meeting when he communicated this message to Sixers officials.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 21, 2021
No matter how you cut it, that is no way for a professional athlete to act.
If the Blazers trade for Simmons, they need to be well aware that all of this could happen again in the future.
Think of it this way: if Simmons does indeed get traded to Portland, he will get his way and be sent off the team he hates.
It will prove that his approach to tainting the well in Philadelphia worked and eventually paid off.
If that’s the case, it’s very likely that he could act out and behave in the same way again in the future if things go south in Portland.
It is very important that the Blazers understand that with all the talent of Simmons also comes an attitude and personality that is hard to work with at times.
They need to be very realistic about what they are getting themselves into before they start any trade talks.
It’s important that they do whatever they can to keep Lillard around but if trading for Simmons is the only way to retain their star point guard, they should consider just letting him go and rebuilding from scratch.
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