Ben Simmons Is Tempting for Wolves, But Not a Real Solution

Reports have surfaced that Simmons is looking to come back into the league. Does he make sense for the power forward-hungry Timberwolves?

Simmons has previously been pursued by the Timberwolves, but by a different front office. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Writing about the possibility of Ben Simmons to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Time really is a flat circle, isn't it?

Once upon a time, the Timberwolves were a young Western Conference team looking to make a step forward. With Anthony Edwards entering his second year next to a healthy Karl-Anthony Towns and a trove of picks and players to bundle into a trade, fans were clamboring for a high-profile move to vault them to the next level.

Simultaneous to that, the Phildelphia 76ers were looking to move off of Ben Simmons, their high-profile playmaker and defensive savant. With his now-infamous passed-up layup just happening in the most recent playoffs at the time, his days in Philly looked to be numbered. Minnesota had interest. Jaden McDaniels was talked about as a potential piece in a move.

Now five years later, McDaniels led the Wolves to a first-round series win against Nikola Jokic, and Simmons is a professional deep sea fisherman. Seriously. Read that one back.

But even given the time and space both parties have had, the Wolves enter this season with a glaring need at power forward. Simmons has the size and is exploring basketball opportunities again. Does a union make any sort of sense with Simmons looking to make an NBA comeback?

NBA free agent forward Ben Simmons is expected to be a full participant with “zeros restrictions” in a player-led Aussie men’s national team mini-camp in Melbourne beginning Monday, sources to @andscape. Simmons took last season off in hopes of completely healing from injuries.

— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) August 10, 2026

Where it works

The Timberwolves come into the season with an undersized starting lineup. With Jaden McDaniels playing slightly out of his comfort zone at the four, he can tend to struggle with stronger players.

Being a physical defender bodes well for him in the postseason, but can sometimes get him into trouble during the regular season when games are called tighter. He led the team least season during the regular season with 244 fouls. Joan Beringer, the third frontcourt player in the rotation, led the Wolves in fouls per 36 minutes last season with more than five.

Simmons would come in and provide options. He could play a small-ball center role and bring playmaking chops to the table, or slide into the four role when McDaniels or Beringer get into foul trouble.

Simmons is also conducive to pushing pace; even in his last season with the Los Angeles Clippers, far from his peak ability, LA turned the ball over nearly four less times per 100 possessions with Simmons on the floor. That aside, given the tendency he's shown to get rebounds and whip the ball down the floor for fastbreak points, he surely could serve as a defense-into-offense piece that the Wolves' rotation needs in current standing.

Absolute laser of a pass by Ben Simmons to set up George Hill in transition. pic.twitter.com/C4udhLuNUx

— Tom West (@TomWestNBA) May 23, 2021

Where it Doesn't Work

Anthony Edwards and company are already coming off of a season where spacing tended to be an issue offensively, something the franchise cornerstone shooting guard would have to throw his cape on for to bring the team out of.

The inconsistent spacing at the power forward position disengaged the team for stretches and ultimately led to Julius Randle being a salary dump trade to the Brooklyn Nets (ironically, a former team of Simmons').

In order to make Simmons work at an efficient level in a lineup, it's important to flank him with big wings. With the Clippers, his most played with combinations inbolved Nic Batum and Kawhi Leonard; big wings that can space the floor but also rebound at and extremely high rate for their position. Derrick Jones Jr. was also a part of the platoon that would play with Simmons.

With the Wolves, that because a tougher puzzle to figure out. Surely, McDaniels would be in the mix to play alongside him, Edwards as well. Outside of that, does Simmons become a de facto third center? Surely, it would be extremely hard to play him next to Rudy Gobert or Joan Beringer. If you're not getting out in transition, teams will surely have no problem going under screens or letting Simmons go off of the ball while packing the paint.

Surely, there's upside there, but will it work more than it won't?

Ben Simmons and Rudy Gobert would struggle on the floor together, even as an elite defensive pairing. | USA TODAY Sports

The verdict

Simmons brings extreme upside with two very good skills that the Wolves are in desperate need of. But ultimately, his inability to bring any sort of spacing without a halfcourt offensive game outweighs the value he would bring.

A move to bring him in would counteract the team-wide philosophy the Wolves are heading into the season to put in place: pace, space and spreading teams out to make up for their lack of size.

The required lineup combinations also go against much of what the Wolves have set out to do. With Simmons in the fold, it would surely mean less of a role for second-year big man Joan Beringer, who, the Wolves see as a bright spot and would like to increase the minute load of.

With what Minnesota intends to do, wouldn't a Jonathan Kuminga or Nicolas Batum make more sense? They're similarly imperfect players but could contribute and fit more along the lines of what Chris Finch is aiming for.

Sometimes the bet isn't worth the hand. With what the Wolves have left to spend and offer, their margins are thin. And in this case, it's hard to see this possible solution paying off.

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