In every conceivable way, Simmons is the anti-CJ to almost a laughable extent. But if Philly botches this and really does make him available, I think the reason we need to make it happen is simply the roster-building flexibility he provides you next to Dame.
His size, defense and ball handling literally allow you to mix and match rosters with him and Dame better than anyone not named Giannis in the league. Want to go big? Play him as your 2, Roco as your 3, etc. Want to run and go small? Play him as your 4 or 5. Is the lack of 3pt and FT shooting mildly alarming? I guess? But it would also be why he's available and not being called the next Lebron.
To add to these thoughts...
The above roster flexibility is going to be ABSOLUTELY crucial when you don't have any meaningful draft picks and a supermax player. A core of Dame, Simmons, Roco, Nurk and a resigned Powell is a very solid 5, but likely you're going to have to fill in the cracks and depth with specialized role players, so being able to shop from a larger pool of players (because you can play Simmons anywhere) will likely yield better-than-the-alternative results.
Neil's claim to fame is still his trade for Chris Paul... feels like a similar situation and like we're going to need to put together a similar type of package for Simmons, but I'd do it in a heartbeat...


