Wild 4-Team Trade Proposal Would Finally Move Ben Simmons Out Of Brooklyn

Oh, how the Brooklyn Nets would love to unload Ben Simmons. But what team would they be able to hoodwink into taking him on?

Eric Pincus of Bleacher Report recently went into the trade lab and came up with a wild, massive four-team blockbuster that would move Simmons to... the Golden State Warriors? And the Warriors would give up Steph Curry in the process?? Hey, don't shoot the messenger. Here's how Pincus sees this insane 4-way deal going down:

LA Lakers receive:

Steph Curry (from Warriors)
Day'Ron Sharpe (from Nets)
Wendell Moore Jr. (from Detroit Pistons)
$3.9 million trade exception (Jalen Hood-Schifino)

Golden State Warriors receive:

Austin Reaves (via Lakers)
Ben Simmons (via Brooklyn Nets)
2029 unprotected first-rounder (via Lakers)
2031 unprotected first-rounder (via Lakers)
$2.4 million trade exception (Curry)

Brooklyn Nets receive:

D'Angelo Russell (via Lakers)
Rui Hachimura (via Lakers)
Gabe Vincent (via Lakers)
Jalen Hood-Schifino (via Lakers)
$23.3 million trade exception (Simmons)
$2.0 million trade exception (Dennis Schröder)

Detroit Pistons receive:

Dennis Schröder (via Nets)
Christian Wood (via Lakers)
2025 LA Clippers second-rounder (via Lakers)
2025 Miami Heat second-rounder (38-59, via Nets)
$4 million (via Lakers)

So there's a lot to absorb here. Steph Curry teaming up with LeBron James on the Lakers is the biggest bomb that this massive swap would drop, but the other seemingly impossible feat would be the Nets moving on from Simmons in the process.

Yes, we heard a lot about Steph & LeBron wanting to team up again after their glorious Gold Medal pairing at the Paris Olympics this past summer.

The Lakers, however, in this scenario, would have to surrender most of their roster outside of Anthony Davis to get this done, including Reaves, Russell, Wood, Hachimura & Vincent. Would they even have a team left to put on the floor? Pincus suggests signing a couple of veterans to minimum deals to help fill out the roster, perhaps the likes of Cedi Osman and Markelle Fultz, for instance.

The Warriors, if they were to do something like this, would be turning the page completely on their championship years, and starting a rebuild. Austin Reaves is a nice young piece to pair in the backcourt for years to come with Brandin Podziemski, while two unprotected first-rounders would be a boon as well.

But then there's that Simmons character. He's become persona non grata all over the NBA after his seeming complete disinterest in actually playing basketball and earning his massive salary over the past three seasons. He's played just 57 games and averaged only 6.7 points over his disastrous couple of years in Brooklyn after sitting out an entire year in a snit before that. The good news is that his albatross max contract expires after this season's $40 million.

The Nets get some pieces to help with the rebuild, while the Pistons, who are hoping to actually compete this season, get their old friend Christian Wood back (though he is out until November), as well as uber-competitor Dennis Schroder who has an affordable expiring contract and is a nice trade piece for the February deadline.

This proposed monster deal is about as likely to happen as is Ben Simmons to play 82 games this season—wherever he is. But it was an entertaining exercise by Pincus and a fun experiment to consider.