Mavericks not a trade suitor for Ben Simmons, per Marc Stein

In his latest Substack post, long time NBA reporter Marc Stein noted that Ben Simmons is not a trade target for the Dallas Mavericks. While there was an apparentt report from Sean Deveney of Heavy.com last week that mentioned the Mavericks and Ben Simmons in the same sentence, it was an idea from another anonymous executive.

Stein said today, “league sources say Dallas is not a trade suitor registering interest in Brooklyn’s struggling Ben Simmons. This might be one of those cases, I’m told, where the Mavericks have been mentioned repeatedly to try to create some sort of market for Simmons, who has been relegated to a bench role by Vaughn when he does play.”

Sign up for Marc Stein’s Substack if you haven’t. It’s worth your time.

This was not a good idea last week, it’s not a good idea now. The Mavericks were 5-3 when the first report was published by Heavy and it became a Dallas internet talking point for a few days because the Mavericks weren’t playing very many games. When tracking back down the sourcing, the Heavy.com article is written by someone named Spencer Richardson and references something Sean Deveney supposedly wrote or said, only I can’t find it anywhere except in the Richardson article.

Additionally, it’s from a “Western Conference executive”, so someone speaking anonymously and someone not affiliated with the Mavericks. The quote, which again, I cannot find a real source for, says, “Dallas is a team to watch, Simmons would be an interesting fit next to Luka (Doncic) if the Nets were willing to take back (Tim) Hardaway and (Davis) Bertans.”

This is not a rumor. This is the equivalent of taking ScreenName293831’s tweet about how the Dallas Mavericks should sign Michael Jordan and it turning into a story. Was it a good idea that Dallas should maybe consider? Absolutely not.

Anyone who’s seen Ben Simmons play basketball this year knows that he’s not in a good place, physically or mentally. Anyone that suggests Ben Simmons could be a good fit next to Luka Doncic hasn’t spent much time watching Ben Simmons play basketball, ever. This isn’t NBA2k and what Ben Simmons wants to do and what he’s good at versus what teams need him to do are pretty different. Not to mention, Ben Simmon’s contract is absurd. He’s in year three of a $177 million deal; he’s owed $35 million this year, just under $38 million next season, and $40 million in 2024-25. Hard nope there.

Also I think he’s just not in a great place physically between back and knee issues. The Ben Simmons I remember wouldn’t allow this to happen.

I am certainly not above dipping into rumors once the season is upon us. Despite the Mavericks lack of assets this year, I still suspect we all seek out as many rumor-laden articles as possible because we want the team to be better and compete for a championship. But it’s certainly nice to put this very stupid idea to bed.