Warriors Rumors: GS 'Split' on Ben Simmons Trade with Draymond Green on Roster

Those within the Golden State Warriors organization are reportedly split on whether they should attempt to trade for Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons.

According to Monte Poole of NBC Sports Bay Area, the main point of contention is whether Simmons would be a fit on the team with Draymond Green, who has a similar skill set.

Poole noted that some believe having two playmakers like Simmons and Green would be beneficial in head coach Steve Kerr's system, while others feel having two players with shooting deficiencies in the lineup would be a negative even with two all-time great shooters in Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson present.

Poole noted that the Warriors normally won't make a move without "a measure of consensus" within the building, which could rule out a trade for Simmons completely.

He went on to speculate on the possibility of the Warriors trading Green to make room for Simmons, especially on the heels of Green and former teammate Kevin Durant having some critical things to say about how Warriors leadership handled their spat in 2018, but Poole deemed a Green trade unlikely.

Simmons has been rumored to be available essentially since the moment the Sixers fell to the Atlanta Hawks in Game 7 of the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season.

While Simmons is just 25 years of age, a three-time All-Star and an elite defender who finished second in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting last season, he was the scapegoat for the top-seeded 76ers' failure to reach the Eastern Conference Finals.

During the 2020-21 regular season, Simmons averaged career lows essentially across the board with 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game. Still, he was named an All-Star for the third straight year and was expected to be a major asset during the postseason.

Simmons did manage to put up 8.8 assists, 7.9 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in 12 playoff contests, but his scoring dropped to 11.9 points per game.

He played especially poorly against Atlanta, averaging 9.9 points and shooting a horrendous 33.3 percent from the free-throw line. Notably, he didn't attempt a single shot in the fourth quarter in any of the final four games of the series.

The Warriors immediately stood out as a potential landing spot for Simmons since both Curry and Thompson are elite three-point shooters who can make up for Simmons' offensive issues, but it is true that Green plays a similar role.

Green, 31, is a one-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and is coming off a season in which he averaged a career-high 8.9 assists per game.

Green isn't completely helpless as a three-point shooter, though, making just under one trifecta per game during his career and connecting at a 31.6 percent clip from beyond the arc.

Simmons would undoubtedly make the Warriors a tougher team to play against on the defensive end, but given that Thompson has missed the past two seasons because of injury, it may not be wise to put so much of the scoring burden on his shoulders.

Any Simmons trade would likely force Golden State to move Andrew Wiggins as part of it, but after he made 2.0 three-pointers per game and connected on 38.0 percent of his shots from deep last season, swapping him with Simmons would be a massive shooting downgrade that Golden State may not be able to afford.