After leaving the Clippers, will the former No. 1 pick become the basic salary signing target for some playoff teams?

According to Forbes Sports reporter Evan Sidery, former No. 1 pick Ben Simmons, who joined the Los Angeles Clippers in the second half of this season, will become the basic salary signing target that some championship teams focus on after the opening of the next free market. Although due to long-term injuries, Simmons is no longer a player with extremely high dominance on both offense and defense, he can still become a versatile player on the bench and provide greater support to the team.

After completing a buyout with his old club Brooklyn Nets in the second half of this season and joining the Clippers, Simmons made a total of 18 appearances in the NBA regular season, averaging 16.4 minutes per game, with averaging 2.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 0.7 steals and 0.4 blocks, and 0.8 turnovers and 1.4 fouls, with a shooting percentage of 43.4% and a free throw percentage of 85.7%. In the playoffs, Simmons played 5 games in a total of 8.4 minutes per game, with averaging 0.8 points, 1.4 rebounds, 0.8 assists, 0.2 steals and 0.8 blocks, 0.4 turnovers and 2.2 fouls, with a shooting percentage of 33.3%.

Simmons was able to play some role in the regular season after joining the Clippers, and he was able to play the role of a substitute point guard. Although his scoring ability is seriously insufficient, his role in passing and organizing and on the defensive end is also worthy of recognition. However, in the playoffs, the situation changed completely. Simmons's shortcomings on the offensive end were further amplified, and his poor scoring ability did have a huge impact on the team. Simmons can only be used as a substitute center in the playoffs, and his playing time has been greatly reduced. In the last two games of the playoffs, he fell out of the rotation lineup, which also shows that he was actually a little embarrassed at the critical moment.

On the one hand, Simmons' resume is indeed quite brilliant, and his advantages in physical talent are also very outstanding. He is indeed able to play a good role in the defensive end; but on the other hand, Simmons has indeed caused a huge negative impact on the team on the offensive end. Not only does he lack the basic desire to score, but from the actual situation, he is indeed unable to get more points. For the playoff-level team, seeing Simmons' performance during the playoffs, I doubt the accuracy of the news from Sidery. Not to mention that the basic salary players only have these functions, Simmons' poor attendance rate and the inevitable bad situation during the playoffs, even if it is a basic salary, it doesn't seem that much significance to sign him.