After the NBA trade deadline has passed, reports have surfaced that Ben Simmons is expected to be bought out by the Brooklyn Nets. The next team destination of the former first overall pick has intrigued many basketball fans and Chris Johnson speculated that the Golden State Warriors should take their chance on the three-time NBA All-Star.
During a podcast interview on ‘The WY Network’ hosted by Dwyane Wade, fitness coach Chris Johnson sees Simmons as a good fit for the Golden State Warriors.
“You put Ben Simmons on the Golden State Warriors, and we’re going to have to talk about who’s winning the West,” said Johnson.
The Warriors made a splash during the NBA trade deadline and landed Jimmy Butler in a multi-team trade at the expense of giving up Andrew Wiggins, Dennis Schroder and Lindy Waters III. While the NBA championship odds of the Warriors increased, the chance of adding star power in Ben Simmons have also captivated Dwyane Wade’s thoughts.
In an Instagram story, Wade shared his curiosity on Johnson’s opinion and captioned it with, “”@chrisjohnson with an interesting take.”
After the trade deadline, the Warriors have a chance to boost their roster even further by exploring the buyout market, which Ben Simmons is predicted to be. The 28-year-old is on an expiring contract and is expected to cash-in $40 million for the 2024-25 season.
Three other teams are battling for the services of Ben Simmons outside the Golden State Warriors
With the news of Ben Simmons expected to be in the buyout market, Chris Haynes have three teams already looking to jump in and sign the six-foot-ten point guard. Two of those teams are residing in the NBA Western Conference with the Los Angeles Clippers and Houston Rockets. The other team is the NBA Eastern Conference standings leader, Cleveland Cavaliers..
Haynes added that all three teams he mentioned has already planned meetings with Simmons.
In the 33 games that Simmons played this season for the Nets, he has averaged 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds. 6.9 assists and 1.5 steals. These numbers are far from the time he was named an All-NBA Third Team in 2019-20, where he tallied 16.9 points, 8.8 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 1.5 steals for the Philadelphia 76ers.
Since getting traded to the Nets, Simmons has appeared in 90 games for the past three seasons and provided 6.5 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals. He also had splits of 56.2% from the field and 59.7% at the free throw line.
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