The Atlanta Hawks are one of the biggest disappointments in the 2021/22 NBA season. After finishing the last campaign as the 5th seed in the Eastern Conference, they have struggled to find their touch this term, ranking 12th in the standings with a 16-20 record.
Trae Young is playing great basketball this season. Still, his efforts haven’t been enough to take the Hawks to the top 5 of the East again, which has frustrated plenty of fans in Atlanta. They need to do better if they want to emulate what they did last season, where they reached the Eastern Conference finals and were eliminated in six games by the Milwaukee Bucks.
The Hawks have been linked with moves in recent days and one beat writer has dropped an interesting idea for the team if they want to have a better bid at the postseason this season.
According to Chris Kirschner of The Athletic, Atlanta could make a surprising move for disgruntled Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons, who is yet to play a single game with the Sixers since the Hawks ironically eliminated them in the second round of the 2021 NBA playoffs.
The Hawks have the means to take big swings to improve the roster if they wanted to do so. Ben Simmons, one of the game’s best defenders, remains available. I’ve mentioned before how much his defense would be welcomed, and he could be the point guard when Young sits, as he’s one of the game’s best passers too.
A backcourt of Ben Simmons and Trae Young would be cool to watch. Ben could run the offense and get Young some good looks, while the shooter could show his range and only care about scoring for his team. Simmons could boost the Hawks’ defense, too, as he’s one of the best players in the league in that item.
Nobody thought about Simmons going to Atlanta until now, but it’s unclear if the Sixers would accept any offer the Hawks can make for the Australian playmaker. They want to get the maximum in return from Simmons and other than Trae Young, it’s hard to find another player that can meet Daryl Morey’s requirements to trade Simmons away.
