Nowadays, Ben Simmons is largely just the butt of jokes. Despite some feeling so deeply empathetic to his devastating fall from grace (me), most simply think it's funny that a player who was once compared to LeBron James is out of the league before he even reached 10 years of NBA experience.
However, his career is not over yet, and Simmons is apparently seeking to make an NBA comeback. It may sound ridiculous, but if his athleticism is indeed back, the Indiana Pacers should look at Simmons as an option for the last roster spot.
When Simmons was at his best, he was one of the best perimeter defenders in the league while creating more open threes in transition than any player in the league. He thrived in the fast break and was a terror going at the rim.
That player is long gone. There's a reason that he's three teams in, and no one will offer him a minimum. But maybe, just maybe, there's a difference-maker there, and the Pacers would be fools to ignore the opportunity.
A dreamlike fit, for a nightmarish career
There is perhaps no free agent whose archetype fits the current Pacers roster better than Ben Simmons.
In one player, he brings more small-ball center minutes, another playmaker and creator who can play some backup point guard minutes, and a player who can generate even more three-pointers. That fits three of the biggest needs Indiana still has.
What he does not solve, however, is shooting. Simmons is infamous as one of the most unwilling shooters of all time
But shooting is not all of basketball, and the good could outweigh the bad, and the playmaking could add shooting value in the aggregate by nature of improving the quality of shots the rest of the roster would get.
The larger question is not how Simmons could contribute to basketball. It's easy to wax poetic about all that, and to hope for a comeback story the way we get in movies. What's hard to do is predict the Pacers' rotation.
As it stands, Indiana will likely be running an eight- or nine-man rotation, with the starters and TJ McConnell, Kelly Oubre, and Obi Toppin making up the rest of the group. Would they extend that group, cutting down the minutes of their best players, to try to rebuild Ben Simmons? Probably not.
However, the Pacers do not have a deep bench. Hoping for one of Quenton Jackson, Braden Smith, Jay Huff, or any of the deep bench options to make a real difference is a fool's errand. With that in mind, the question continues to evolve.
Is Simmons a capable player in his current form? He wasn't the last time we saw him play, but he could be. Is he going to be in the rotation? Definitely not on opening night. Is he too much of a circus to bring in and not play? That's the hard one.
As good as the fit could be, that is ultimately the problem with bringing in Simmons. If you're not going to give him the chance to show what he can do, there's no reason to sign him at all.
Despite the dreams of an Air Bud-style heartwarmer and visions of a revenge series against the Philadelphia 76ers, the Pacers don't make sense for Ben Simmons.
That is, they don't make sense for those who are unwilling to get a little crazy.
And craziness is where the genius hides.
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