The Miami Heat taking a flyer on Ben Simmons may not be that bad of an idea, and it's something that, especially with the way the current free-agent landscape is, the team should slowly be coming around to.
That doesn't mean the front office will indeed move in that direction, but it's become quite clear that the Heat should be more willing to take the gamble on a player like Simmons, rather than signing a veteran whose ceiling is extremely limited. At the very least, it may be a worthwhile conversation for the front office to have.
It's not that Simmons is guaranteed to be an impactful player once his return to the league is complete, if he even sticks. It's the chance that he can be. It's the reward of such a low-risk move. That's what should be appealing, especially for a team like the Heat.
Ben Simmons could be worthy gamble for the Heat to take
Even more so if the alternative is an extremely limited role player like Nick Richards or Gabe Vincent (and that's not a knock on any one of those players), Simmons would give the Heat a much higher ceiling with their 13th or 14th man on the roster.
At this point in the summer, the Heat is trying to find competitive advantages where they can. But considering the Heat doesn't have the money to add a high-priced free agent, or even the assets to trade for one at this point, finding those strategic upper hands with their end-of-the-bench contributors is how they can cheat the system.
Believe it or not, Simmons, especially at this point in the summer, may be one of the few players still on the open market who could give the Heat that opportunity.
Is there a chance that Simmons doesn't work out? Could the Heat offer him a training camp invite or a veteran minimum contract, and then he just doesn't have it anymore? Absolutely. To be perfectly honest, that's probably the most likely outcome.
But the chance that Simmons does work out, and that he does emerge even as an end-of-the-bench contributor, it would give a team like the Heat an unexpected boost.
Ben Simmons could give the Heat an unexpected competitive advantage
As Miami embarks on the first year of the Giannis Antetokounmpo era, they could use every tool and asset they can get their hand on. Simmons, with his versatile ability on both ends of the floor, could be an intriguing option.
No one expects Simmons to be the player he was at his peak years ago, but if he can be 40 or even50 percent that player, there's no question he can be an asset to a team like the Heat. Whether the front office believes it to the extent of giving him a shot remains to be seen.
But if the Heat does end up missing out on Klay Thompson and DeMar DeRozan, would taking a gamble on Simmons be that egregious a move?
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