I think Simmons and KP are close, both with respect to upside and fall-from-grace.
For all folks complain about KP, few would be surprised if he went to another team and averaged 26/10 as a team's primary option. He has the talent to be a franchise player if he can stay healthy. It's also not lost on me that nearly everyone in Dallas wanted to trade Dirk because he couldn't play defense or score over Matt Barnes in the 2007 "We Believe" playoffs.
The big question with KP is health related. If he can prove he's healthy, and regain his lateral movement, his value around the league will really improve.
I don't see Simmons ever winning an MVP, or even being a good team's second best scoring option, but I do think he can win DPOY as a good team's second best player. (I also think he has the potential to fit extremely well with Luka.)
In some ways there are bigger questions with Simmons simply because I don't think he'll ever shoot well enough to reach his full potential. He's been asked to do too much and what he brings to the table on the interior is just a bad fit with Embiid.
Who you value more comes down to the roll you envision for each player. If you want KP to space the floor, defend and play second fiddle, he may not be a fit. But if you want a floor spacing primary scoring option and weak side shot blocker, and you pair him with a beefy center like he had in New York - e.g. Embiid - I think KP can do that at a very high level.
Likewise, if you want Simmons to space the floor and score late in games, that will likely never happen. But if you want a guy to facilitate and lower the usage of your dominant crunch time scorer - e.g. Luka - and surround him with good shooters, I think Simmons can do that at a very high level.
For all folks complain about KP, few would be surprised if he went to another team and averaged 26/10 as a team's primary option. He has the talent to be a franchise player if he can stay healthy. It's also not lost on me that nearly everyone in Dallas wanted to trade Dirk because he couldn't play defense or score over Matt Barnes in the 2007 "We Believe" playoffs.
The big question with KP is health related. If he can prove he's healthy, and regain his lateral movement, his value around the league will really improve.
I don't see Simmons ever winning an MVP, or even being a good team's second best scoring option, but I do think he can win DPOY as a good team's second best player. (I also think he has the potential to fit extremely well with Luka.)
In some ways there are bigger questions with Simmons simply because I don't think he'll ever shoot well enough to reach his full potential. He's been asked to do too much and what he brings to the table on the interior is just a bad fit with Embiid.
Who you value more comes down to the roll you envision for each player. If you want KP to space the floor, defend and play second fiddle, he may not be a fit. But if you want a floor spacing primary scoring option and weak side shot blocker, and you pair him with a beefy center like he had in New York - e.g. Embiid - I think KP can do that at a very high level.
Likewise, if you want Simmons to space the floor and score late in games, that will likely never happen. But if you want a guy to facilitate and lower the usage of your dominant crunch time scorer - e.g. Luka - and surround him with good shooters, I think Simmons can do that at a very high level.
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