Should Knicks sign Ben Simmons or someone else with final roster spot?
The New York Knicks have had an eventful offseason. They added new coach Mike Brown. And they also signed free agent guard Jordan Clarkson, as well as forward Guerschon Yabusele. Without a healthy Jayson Tatum and Tyrese Haliburton, the Knicks look to enter the 2025-26 season ready to capitalize on a weakened Eastern Conference.
But with one remaining roster spot, the Knicks can still make one final move. Now, the question becomes what to do with that spot. And one name that's come up has been Ben Simmons.
Should the Knicks consider Ben Simmons?
Simmons, a former first-overall pick, has had a tough time the last few seasons. After famously passing up a relatively open layup late in a playoff series loss for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2021, he has bounced around the league. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets, a team with which he spent two-and-a-half seasons. But Simmons was bought out by the Nets, allowing him to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers mid-way through the 2024-25 season.
Simmons hasn't come close to reaching the levels he achieved with the 76ers. Granted, his back has presented major issues. But regardless of why, the nearly-29-year-old appears to be well past his prime. Adding a 6-foot-10 defender with great court vision who can initiate an offense is never a bad thing, especially when it's for the veteran's minimum. And even more so when it's in an undefined role with no guarantees of playing time—assuming Simmons is good with that.
Still, the question must be asked: What does Simmons add to the Knicks? He could spell Jalen Brunson when the Knicks need a true(r) point guard. But Clarkson will probably own most of those minutes. He isn't a good enough shooter to play as a two or a three with most lineups. And a front court with Karl-Anthony Towns, Robinson, and Yabusele doesn't have much room to add another power forward or center.
So, the question remains: Is there a better option?
Could Landry Shamet be a better fit?
Enter Landry Shamet.
Shamet is certainly less accomplished than Simmons, although they're closer than one might think in recent years. But the 6-foot-4 guard has more going for him than meets the eye. After playing the 2024-25 season with the Knicks, he's a known commodity by most of the roster. He is also exactly what Simmons isn't: A knock-down shooter.
Shamet connected on 39.7% of 3-pointers last season. And for a team with limited shooters, having someone reliable in a catch-and-shoot capacity is invaluable, especially someone who brings no drama and no baggage.
But as much as bringing back Shamet represents a feel-good story, he might not be the perfect piece. Simmons' versatility is alluring. He can guard four or five positions on any given night. He is also an above-average rebounder and brings a desirable grittiness. However, it's important to note that Shamet was grittier than expected in the 2025 playoffs.
Ultimately, New York can't go wrong with either Simmons or Shamet. Both are good additions. But objectively, it's unclear if Simmons would be alright with a limited role like the one Shamet had last season. If he is, he might be the better pure addition. But the off-the-court impact is just as important. And Shamet is seemingly well-liked by most of the roster.
If both Simmons and Shamet are available and willing to sign, Leon Rose and Mike Brown must do some serious thinking. And fast. Because they bring very different attributes to the table. Understanding which is more valuable to the 2025-26 Knicks could be a make-or-break decision.
Related: NBA rumors: Cavs, Mavericks, Knicks among teams hoping for LeBron James buyout
Related: Knicks' Josh Hart undergoes procedure for finger injury
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
🎥 Did Aston Villa man score the perfect pre-season goal?
A lot of people consider what happens in pre-season to be irrelevant. After all, it's not as if results and performances have a bearing on what lies ahead in the forthcoming campaign, but Ezri Konsa offered a compelling counterpoint. Two years ago, the Aston Villa defender produced a barnstorming run and finish to begin their fightback in a friendly with Brentford at Maryland's Northwest Stadium. Unai Emery's side were trailing to Bryan Mbeumo and Josh Dasilva before Konsa's one-man effort set the wheels in motion for three goals in the space of ten minutes. Unfortunately for the Villans, their lead was cancelled out midway through the second half to ensure honours ended even in their six-goal thriller with the Bees. But Konsa can lay claim to one of the greatest ever goals scored in pre-season.. 📸 BERTRAND GUAY - AFP or licensors
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
GA natives Sterling and Shannon Sharpe are the first brothers in Pro Football Hall of Fame
Shannon Sharpe donned his gold jacket emblazoned with the Pro Football Hall of Fame logo at his Atlanta home last winter and awaited his brother's arrival. Sterling ambled down the stairs and into the basement looking perplexed. 'Welcome, bro!' Shannon said. To what, Sterling wondered, 'your house?' 'To the Pro Football Hall of Fame,' corrected Shannon. 'Class of 2025.' [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The first pair of brothers who will ever have both of their busts on display in Canton fell into each other's arms, decades of doubts dissipating in a medley of laughter and tears. Dashed was the notion that seven stellar NFL seasons weren't enough for football immortality. All along, the brothers figured it was Sterling who would reach Canton first. He was born three years earlier and the wide receiver had a standout career at South Carolina and then for the Green Bay Packers, who made him a first-round pick in 1988, two years before the Denver Broncos selected his younger brother in the seventh round out of Savannah State. Sterling would start every game for seven straight seasons until a neck injury cut short his career just as he and the Packers were peaking. The green and gold would go on to return the title to Titletown behind fellow Hall of Famers Ron Wolf, LeRoy Butler, Reggie White and Brett Favre while Sterling dabbled in broadcasting before leaving football behind for the golf links. Sterling was named to five Pro Bowls and earned first-team All-Pro honors the three years he led the league in receptions. He averaged 85 catches in his career — an unheard of number for that era and 10 more than Jerry Rice averaged in his first seven seasons. In his last season he led the league with 18 touchdown receptions, including a trio of scores in his final game despite dealing with numbness in his arms and tingling in his neck caused by an abnormal loosening of the first and second vertebrae in his cervical spine. He had felt increasingly bothersome symptoms over the last half of that season and he suffered what's commonly referred to as 'stingers' against the Falcons in the Packers' final game at the old Milwaukee County Stadium on Dec. 18, 1994, and again six days later at Tampa, where he caught nine passes for 132 yards and three first-half touchdowns in what turned out to be his final game. Right after Christmas, he learned he needed neck fusion surgery that would limit his head swivel, making it too dangerous to continue playing football. Upon hearing the prognosis, he stood up and shook his doctors' hands. 'I had already accomplished what I wanted to,' Sterling told NBC affiliate WIS News in Columbia, South Carolina, this spring. '... I just wanted to play, and I got to play in the NFL for seven years.' His career cut short at age 29, his protracted wait for Canton would last 31 years. 'Sterling was supposed to be in the Hall first,″ Shannon said ahead of his 2011 induction, where he drew a standing ovation for saying, 'I'm the second-best player in my own family." Unlike Sterling's truncated testimonial, Shannon's Canton credentials were never in question. He set the standard at tight end, going to eight Pro Bowls in 14 seasons, earning four first-team All-Pro honors and winning three Super Bowls in a four-year span, two in Denver and one in Baltimore. He gave his first Super Bowl ring — from Denver's 31-24 win over Green Bay in 1997 — to Sterling. And he called the chance to welcome his big brother into the Hall 'the proudest moment of my life.' Despite their shared love of the game, the brothers who grew up in a tiny cinder block house in rural Georgia were different in one big way: Shannon overcame a childhood speech impediment to become one of the game's most talkative players and later one of football's most vocal commentators. Sterling preferred to hone his craft in relative obscurity and mostly avoided the public and the media. 'As a football player, I was unapproachable,' Sterling told WIS News. 'I didn't want to be approached. I didn't want to be famous. I didn't want to make friends. I've got a job to do and I'm going to do this job better than anyone else does anything else.' [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter] Butler said Sterling's media blackout was on par with his isolated nature. He just didn't let many people into his orbit. 'Sterling didn't want nobody to know what he did,' Butler told The Associated Press. 'He didn't want other receivers mimicking him. His edge was his physicality and his brain.' Butler said teammates started calling Sterling 'The Hermit,' because 'he just wanted to play football. He didn't want to go nowhere. He didn't want to do nothing. He'd be swiping his card to get into (Packers headquarters) at 6 o'clock when nobody's up but burglars and roosters.' Ask him for his autograph and he'd walk right past you. Send him a letter care of the Packers and he's sign a stack of them, Butler said. Every Tuesday, Sterling would spend his time answering fan mail, 'signing 1,000 autographs,' Butler said. 'I never did that. He was the only one in the building signing everything. He's probably going to hate on me for telling that story.' Sterling was amongst a group of wide receivers including Andre Reed and Jerry Rice that defenses began double-teaming in the late 1980s. Sterling embraced the extra attention of the 'clamp and vice' defense and actually became better for it. 'He said if two guys are doubling me, they don't hide it,' Butler recounted. 'The corner has outside leverage, the safety has inside leverage, the linebacker is in a zone. He broke it down like this: 'When it's a pass, I'm going to attack the worst cover guy, the safety. When it's a run, I'm going to attack the worst tackler, the cornerback.' I'd never heard nothing like that. It made so much sense. 'If he's putting pressure on the safety, running straight at him, it's what we call a panic state. As soon as he turns around to run with you, you stop on a dime and 'Magic' (Don Majkowski) or Brett would throw him the ball. I'd never seen any receiver do that, where he just said I'm going to attack the weakest guy based on what the play is.' Butler said another of Sterling's hush-hush advantages actually salvaged his own career. Favre's fastballs at practice were exacerbated in the winter months, so to save his hands and preserve rhythm with his quarterback, Sterling began wearing scuba diving wetsuit gloves, Butler said. With their padding and super tack, the gloves served like a catcher's mitt. They worked out so well in the elements that Sterling began wearing them indoors, too, Butler said. 'So I went out and got me some scuba gloves like Sterling and it saved my career,' Butler said. 'I started to get more interceptions. And before you know it our whole secondary was wearing them. I don't think opponents realized it. Again, you don't talk about it.'
Yahoo
28 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Ronald Acuña Jr. going back on the Braves injured list
The hits keep coming for the Atlanta Braves, but not from the bats like fans have hoped. All-Star outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. will be added to the 10-day injured list. He's the latest player added to the long list of injuries for Atlanta. 'It's an Achilles thing, it's going to take a while,' manager Brian Snitker told reporters during his postgame remarks. 'He'll go on the IL and hopefully in 10 days or so it'll clear up.' [DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks] The Braves removed Acuña for right Achilles tightness during Tuesday night's loss to the Royals. Acuña told reporters in the Braves clubhouse that he first felt discomfort after he scored from first base in Monday night's win. 'I think it definitely got worse today. I told them yesterday,' he said through his translator, Franco Garcia. 'Everyone said, 'Hey, take the day if you want, you can have the day off. But I've just missed so much time already with injuries. I don't want to miss any more time.' Acuña just returned to the team in May after his recovery from a left ACL injury that ended his 2024 season early. The Braves star previously tore his right ACL in 2021, the year Atlanta won the World Series. On Tuesday night, Acuña tried to hold back the tears when he was asked if he was worried that his latest injury could be significant. 'Of course. It's an injury. I'm worried,' he said, adding it hurts when he tries to put pressure on his leg. TRENDING STORIES: Coco Gauff overcomes 23 double-faults for first win since French Open title GA natives Sterling and Shannon Sharpe are the first brothers in Pro Football Hall of Fame Atlanta United honors Children's Healthcare of Atlanta patients Injuries have not been kind to the Braves this season. All five pitchers on the team's Opening Day starting rotation are currently on the injured list. AJ Smith-Shawver will miss the rest of the season after Tommy John surgery. Reynaldo Lopez hasn't returned since his right shoulder injury opening weekend. Chris Sale, Spencer Schwellenbach and Grant Holmes are all on the 60-day IL. Third baseman Austin Riley just returned to the Braves last week after he spent a stint on the 10-day injured list for a strained right abdomen. [SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
