Ben Simmons is a hot commodity in the NBA, or a rag doll being passed around from team to team hoping to get the most out of him. It depends how you look at it. After being traded from the Sixers in a scandal about mental health that all but evaporated when he was delt to the Brooklyn Nets it seems Brooklyn may have been a pit stop for Simmons.
Nets GM Sean Marks made it clear that the team would rebuild and examine players who “don’t want to be here”. In a press conference after the Nets were eliminated from the NBA playoffs, Marks made sure to get his point across, "Do they want to be part of this? Are they motivated by something that's not good for the whole team here? Those are questions we have to ask ourselves and the players that we want to bring back” when he was referring to Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons.
In Simmons' defense, he was ready to play for the Nets until Simmons was diagnosed with a herniated disk in his back, the injury forced him out the rest of the season. Now rumors have begun to swirl that Simmons could once again be on the move.
Atlanta Hawks interested in Ben Simmons
According to The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, the Hawks wanted Simmons last year but was not able to strike a deal with the Sixers. “Several people inside the Hawks’ organization wanted Simmons at the trade deadline,” Kirschner wrote.
The journalist still believes that the Hawks will be willing to trade for Simmons, although if the Nets are going to give anyone up it could be Kyrie Irving whose behavior continues to be erratic off the court. Trade talks of Irving have cooled off as of late, but the point guard is not doing himself any favors with his Twitch casts.
For Ben Simmons the chance of being a big role player in Brooklyn is there, the Nets have a good squad but ultimately there are too many “personalities” on the team, and one might have to go. For Simmons the chances of him being the one traded are slim especially since he was forced out with an injury.
