Indiana Pacers: 10 reasons why trading for Ben Simmons is a step backwards

How trading for Ben Simmons can hurt the Indiana Pacers’ cap situation

Reason #1: A Ben Simmons trade will prompt the Pacers to overcompensate

As most people know by now, trading stars in the NBA typically invites the bidder to sweeten the pot for the mother team as much as possible. While Ben Simmons is not on the level of, say, Damian Lillard, his towering potential easily shoots him up above most of his peers.

If the 76ers jettison a proposal including Malcolm Brogdon, a two-way, fringe All-Star cog, and the 13th pick in the deep, upcoming draft, then the Pacers will need to overcompensate. Personally, the prior offer is already a sound deal, but with the way things are currently shaping up, Indiana fans won’t be happy campers with the prospect of the team obtaining Simmons by making their offer more lucrative, such as by adding one of the team’s core players.

Reason #2: Indiana will have less cap flexibility

Say that the Indiana Pacers acquire Ben Simmons for a slightly better offer than the initial one. What happens then is that the team will inherit his massive contract, worth north of 30 million per season for four more years. This will bear a historical outlier for the luxury tax-allergic Pacers who have usually veered away from taking on booming salaries.

Even if the organization warms up to the idea of paying the luxury tax, Simmons’ contract will streamline Indiana’s ability to re-sign their own free agents in the near future. Surely, TJ Warren may command a contract in the 18-22 million range while extensions for All-Star Domantas Sabonis and even the upstart Caris LeVert may propel the team to spend more. It’s also worth noting that being top-heavy on the salary books will hurt the team’s depth-building capacity.