That leaves the three teams that have been at the center of the Simmons speculation for weeks: the New York Knicks, the Sacramento Kings, and the Boston Celtics<\/a>. However, Siegel threw cold water on the Boston rumors, suggesting the fit is questionable for a team that seems to be in a retooling phase.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t necessarily see the fit with Boston,\u201d Siegel admitted. He explained that while Simmons could provide some playmaking, it doesn\u2019t align with the Celtics\u2019 current timeline. \u201cLike, yeah, he can be another playmaker, another facilitator, but we expect the Celtics to take a step back this season and kind of retool and see where this roster is at\u2026 So, when Tatum is healthy again, they can go back to competing for a championship.\u201d<\/p>\n Siegel did float one possibility, framing it as a low-risk experiment. \u201cMaybe you try out for a year and that\u2019s your test run with him,\u201d he said, before ultimately dismissing the idea. \u201cBut I I just I don\u2019t I don\u2019t see it like you. I don\u2019t think that it\u2019s a realistic landing spot.\u201d<\/p>\n The update paints a clearer, if still uncertain, picture of the Ben Simmons<\/a> sweepstakes. With the Celtics seemingly fading and the Suns also potentially out, the surprising and poetic new option in Atlanta<\/a> has emerged alongside the long-standing interest from the Knicks and Kings. And as it turns out, his decision is holding up the entire market.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The Ben Simmons domino: Why Russell Westbrook\u2019s future is on hold<\/p>\n So what\u2019s the holdup for the rest of the free-agent market? According to NBA insider Jake L. Fischer, it all comes down to one man: Ben Simmons. His indecision has created a \u201cholding pattern\u201d for other veteran guards, most notably Russell Westbrook<\/a> and Malcolm Brogdon.<\/p>\n \u201cI think Westbrook is another player who\u2019s being held up by Ben Simmons,\u201d Fischer said on a Bleacher Report livestream. \u201cYou know, he\u2019s had interest from Sacramento [Kings]. He had interest from New York [Knicks] at one point in time, but I do think that Simmons is younger and theoretically has more upside left on the table. Russ is a big personality. I think he is in the holding pattern just like Malcolm Brogdon behind Ben Simmons here.\u201d<\/p>\n via Imago<\/p>\n Nov 27, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons (10) passes the ball against the Phoenix Suns during the second half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-Imagn Images<\/p>\n It\u2019s a fascinating dynamic. Teams aren\u2019t just waiting to see if they can sign Simmons, they\u2019re waiting to see what the market looks like after he signs. Fischer described him as the \u201cmost consequential free agent on the board,\u201d the one \u201cdomino that a lot of agents and teams are waiting on for this next evolution of the offseason market.\u201d<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n So when will that domino finally fall? According to ESPN\u2019s Brian Windhorst, the wait might be almost over. \u201cI\u2019m told he\u2019s probably going to make a choice in the next week,\u201d Windhorst reported, adding that the Knicks, Kings, and Celtics<\/a> have all been connected to him. With a decision imminent, the final pieces of the NBA\u2019s <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Where will Ben Simmons land? It\u2019s one of the biggest and most complicated questions of the NBA offseason.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3776],"tags":[676,208,3874,7,677,6,3512],"class_list":{"0":"post-194935","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-atlanta-hawks","8":"tag-atlanta","9":"tag-atlanta-hawks","10":"tag-atlantahawks","11":"tag-basketball","12":"tag-hawks","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-npstrans"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/114917167983087456","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"article-image\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/USATSI_24866418.jpg\")
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