The Golden State Warriors had their eye on Ben Simmons, but the former All-Star took a different route and landed with the Sacramento Kings on a non-guaranteed deal. That leaves Golden State watching from a distance, with one former NBA champion floating a scenario the Warriors would rather never have to think about.
Richard Jefferson went there this week on The ESPN Aussie Hoops Hour, saying Simmons could get back to All-Star level if the mental side of his game clicks.
“.. Certainly in basketball, just like many other sports, as much as it is physical, it is mental.
Ben’s always had the talent. Ben has the talent to be an All-Star this year," Jefferson said.
It sounds wild on the surface, especially considering how far Simmons has drifted from that level over the last five years. But the talent has never really been the issue. That’s part of why the Kings, Warriors, Minnesota Timberwolves and even NBA champion New York Knicks all showed interest.
At his best, Simmons is a rare player: 6'10", athletic, able to handle the ball and defend every position on the floor. That kind of profile still turns heads, even after he didn’t play at all last season and has appeared in just 108 games over the past five years.
The bigger question is whether his body holds up and whether he can get back to the mindset that once let him attack the basket and score the way he did early in his Philadelphia 76ers career.
For Golden State, the likelier outcome is that this becomes a near miss they never lose sleep over. Even if Simmons gives Sacramento something as a 15-20 minute per game rotation piece, the Kings are still expected to be a largely irrelevant team, so there’s no obvious path to a loud comeback story.
If anything, the move could end up being more important for Simmons than for the Warriors. Golden State would have offered a shot at a bounce-back on a team still in the playoff mix, while Sacramento may give him a quieter setting to try to rebuild his game.
Jefferson’s All-Star talk is still a long way from reality. But after passing on the Warriors, Simmons will have a chance to prove whether that kind of comeback is even in the picture.
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For Golden State, the question is whether to move now while the terms could still be reasonable or to keep waiting and live with the risk that his growth makes the price jump. Podziemski has shown enough two-way usefulness to matter in the rotation, and enough improvement on the scoring end to make the next step feel real rather than theoretical. The Warriors have every reason to be careful, but they also know the cost of getting the timing wrong can linger long after the initial deal is signed. [Read more 🡒]