Warriors Set to Capture Ben Simmons,Will Landing the Philadelphia 76ers Star Help in NBA Title Push?

The ongoing saga as to whether the Philadelphia 76ers will retain the services of Ben Simmons won’t seem to die down. Now, according to some sources, the chances of the Australian moving to join the Golden State Warriors are apparently increasing.

Simmons, who has completed four seasons at the Wells Fargo Center, has been linked with a departure ever since his rather limp displays in the playoffs last season and the 25-year-old is understood to not be impressed with the way he had become something of a scapegoat for their failings.

Should Simmons move to the Golden State Warriors then it might well help improve the odds of Steph Curry’s side pushing deeper into the postseason picture. Such a significant offseason trade has its impact on the NBA odds market, which you can follow closely at sidelines.io. Currently the Warriors can be backed at (+1000) for the NBA title, a little bit ahead of the 76ers (+1800) and the capture of an undeniable talent, such as Ben Simmons, will certainly have an impact on the betting.

Simmons is said to have demanded a move and there’s no shortage of suitors vying to pick up the 2016 draft pick. Golden State is ahead of the likes of the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Sacramento Kings, the San Antonio Spurs and the Toronto Raptors, all seemingly interested in Simmons.

There are some who are concerned about whether Simmons would make a negative impact at the Chase Center, many feeling that the pairing with Draymond Green might not work out in the overall favor of Steve Kerr’s roster.

Golden State have experienced something of a slump since they reached five successive NBA finals series, winning three (all against the Cavaliers), with a terrible 19-20 which resulted in their first losing season in almost a decade.

Last season was something of an improvement but unacceptably they still failed to make it to the playoffs, something Kerr can’t allow to become a habit.

Simmons is undoubtedly talented, we are talking about a player who has made the All-Star team in three of his four NBA seasons, but there is a sense that he could be more trouble than he’s worth.

Then there’s the elephant in the room in terms of Simmons’ well documented poor free throw shooting ability, something even he has referenced more than a few times. He’s been known to have an honest assessment as to the issues he has in that department, being quoted as saying;

"Definitely I think it’s mental,"

In a way it’s clearly better that those issues are psychological than related to ability, but still very much something that needs to be ironed out of his game if he is to take it up a notch.

During the playoffs last season, when the 76ers lost to the Atlanta Hawks in game seven of the Conference semifinals, Simmons hit just 25 of 73 from the free-throw line. That’s a truly embarrassing stat and one that overshadowed the solid season the player had had prior to Philadelphia’s exit.