The Los Angeles Lakers won't be trading LeBron James unless the three-time champion asks out of Southern California, and the Philadelphia 76ers will almost surely hang onto Ben Simmons for the foreseeable future. But that didn't stop FOX Sports' Undisputed from fanning the flames of speculation about the future of the oversized playmakers with their respective teams – and, likely, trolling for attention in the process.
When prompted to discuss the supposed possibility that Philadelphia “may explore” trading Simmons to Los Angeles for James, Skip Bayless took the feckless discussion with co-host Shannon Sharpe to a new level of ridiculous.
“As [James] enters year 17, [Simmons] is already [better],” the FOX Sports personality said on Tuesday's edition of Undisputed. “Right now, I'll take him over LeBron going into year 17.”
Simmons, to be clear, is an extremely impactful player when he's putting pressure on the opponent with his size and athleticism on both sides of the floor. There were fleeting moments during the epic second-round matchup between the Sixers and Toronto Raptors when he was the best player on the floor – no small feat for a sophomore playing with Joel Embiid and Jimmy Butler and against Kawhi Leonard.
Still, the notion that Simmons will be a better all-around player than James next seasons is based on nothing but speculation. And worse, its premise relies on the type of improvement with his jumper that Simmons, unfortunately, has given us no reason to believe is coming any time soon.
“You're out your mind,” Sharpe replied to Bayless when the latter said he would take Simmons over James for 2019-20, and rightfully so.
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