The Warriors have two roster spots to fill, and the names floating around include Kelly Olynyk, Brandon Williams and Gabe Vincent. But if Golden State is treating this summer like a bridge year, the cleaner gamble might be the one attached to Ben Simmons.
Simmons is trying to get back into professional basketball after sitting out a year following his last run with the L.A. Clippers in 2024-25. His agent, Rich Paul, has already laid out the lane he believes Simmons needs to find.
"Ben, you got so much left in the tank, bro. If you just become a pick and roll five at the end of games, because your playmaking ability makes you a different rolling big," Paul recalled saying to Simmons.
“We see so many rolling bigs with low IQ. You actually have a high IQ.
We know he was all first-team All-Defense. If you just become that, where you're rolling down the lane, dunk, man rotates over, kick to the... if you just become that you're a $30 million player."
That pitch carries real weight because Simmons once looked like one of the league’s most complete young players in Philadelphia. From 2017 to 2021, he averaged 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 1.7 steals. Over that stretch, he won Rookie of the Year, made two All-NBA Defensive teams, earned an All-NBA Third Team nod and even picked up MVP votes in 2020-21.
Since then, the story has gone the other direction. Injuries and confidence issues have dragged his career down through stops with the Brooklyn Nets and the Clippers. In Los Angeles, he averaged just 2.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists across 18 games to close out the 2024-25 season.
That’s exactly why Simmons makes sense as a low-risk swing for Golden State. The Warriors’ offseason moves point toward a transition season, with cap space potentially opening next summer or the team using the season to position itself for a mid-year move. If they’re not viewing themselves as a true title team right now, the argument is simple: why not take the shot on a former star with upside instead of a player like Olynyk, who looks like a 35-year-old on the back end?
It may sound like a wild idea, but the upside for the Warriors is obvious. Simmons would likely come cheap on a non-guaranteed deal, and Golden State has already shown it can help revive a former No. 1 overall pick’s value, as it did with Andrew Wiggins. With the roster sitting in the middle, the Warriors should be willing to roll the dice.
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