Miami Heat: 3 Trades That Were Too Risky To Make This Offseason
By Noah Decker
Miami Heat: 3 Trades Too Risky To Make This Offseason – Ben Simmons
We all saw Ben Simmons struggle this year in the playoffs. He put up historically low free throw shooting percentages, shooting about 32 percent from the charity stripe.
The opponents of the Philadelphia 76ers started to implement a “hack a Ben” strategy by purposely fouling him and sending him to the line. His poor shooting was so atrocious, that coach Doc Rivers was forced to take him out of the game in close game situations, despite his best efforts to avoid that altogether.
The free throw line is not the only area Ben Simmons struggles to make shots from. He has a hard time making any shot outside eight feet from the basket.
Opposing teams will sit in the paint and dare him to shoot because they are almost certain he would miss. The three point line is the biggest issue.
He shoots 14.7 percent from there in his career. Part of the problem is that he doesn’t take enough shots in games to improve.
He has only taken 34 threes in his entire career. There were plenty of times that Philly was up by 30 or more points this season.
It couldn’t have hurt for Simmons to take a couple of shots at that point. There were also times where he looked timid and afraid to even attempt shots.
During one possession of Game 7 of this past Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Hawks, Simmons passed up an easy layup that would have tied the game with three minutes left. Simmons’ teammate, Joel Embiid, later commented that that was the start of the turning point of the game, which ended in their defeat.
Lastly, Ben Simmons’ work ethic is at question. His numbers each season are eerily similar.
He really hasn’t improved in any area since he entered the league. He also appears to be lacking the effort necessary to see an improvement in the first place.
Simmons is expected to be taking this summer to work on his shooting, but we will see next season if that is true. Despite all of that, Ben Simmons is such an incredible basketball player and the Miami Heat should have traded for him if they had the chance.
He is one of the best passers and playmakers in the NBA. His ability to drive and kick generates incredible open looks for shooters.
His size, speed and athleticism allow him to guard any position, making him one of the best defenders in the NBA. He was the runner up for the 2020-21 Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Aside from shooting, the only other risk Miami would have been taking with Simmons was his fit with the team. Although adding Simmons to an already great defensive team would have made them the undisputed best defensive team in the NBA, the Heat are in desperate need of a scorer.
Unless Simmons drastically improves his shot making, he wouldn’t directly provide that. Also, would it have worked in terms of team chemistry?
Simmons already played with Jimmy Butler and they didn’t seem to get along too well with each other. However, there was some hope that their relationship might have been better in Miami.
The court vision of Simmons would have opened up the floor for other players. If Miami could have surrounded a big three of Butler, Adebayo, and Simmons with some shooters, they could have been a championship team, even without Simmons’ ability to shoot the ball.
How realistic was a Ben Simmons trade? Apparently, it was pretty close to happening, as the Heat emerged as one of the frontrunners to acquire the Australian point forward last week.
If he does improve his shooting, Ben Simmons could be a top ten player in the NBA. If there is one team Simmons could go to in order to help him have the right mentality to shoot better, it would be the Miami Heat.
The Heat already have a recent history of watching young players improve before their eyes. Just a few examples include Adebayo, Hassan Whiteside, and Justise Winslow.
Ben Simmons has the potential to take his game to the next level. If he does and Miami did not give up their assets to trade for him, it could end up being one of the biggest missed opportunities the franchise has ever had.
Knowing Pat Riley, if an offer was there to change his team from playoff contenders to champions, he would have made the deal. The 76ers probably asked for too much in return for Simmons.
We will have to wait and see how big of an impact Lowry and Tucker have on the team’s success this year. They were the safe option; they are both proven champions who can make a huge impact on a team.
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If the Heat do not improve, we will continue to wonder what else they could have done. These were a few of the riskier moves they could have made though.