\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tKings<\/p>\n
We already know Ben Simmons<\/a> is headed back to the NBA<\/a> with the Kings. Now comes the more interesting question: What can he actually do for them?<\/p>\n Will Zimmerle of NBA on SI<\/a> identified Darius Acuff Jr.<\/a>, Keegan Murray<\/a> and coach Doug Christie<\/a> as three potential beneficiaries, and there\u2019s logic behind each.<\/p>\n Acuff, the No. 7 overall pick, won\u2019t necessarily have to handle all of the playmaking responsibilities immediately. Simmons remains an excellent passer when healthy and averaged 5.6 assists in just 22 minutes per game in 2024-25.<\/p>\n Murray could benefit defensively. Simmons isn\u2019t the defender he was during his All-NBA days, but at 6-foot-10, he still gives Christie another big body capable of guarding multiple positions.<\/p>\n And Christie?\u00a0Well, he has options.<\/p>\n Simmons\u2019 inability to shoot remains the obvious problem. But for $3.5 million, Sacramento isn\u2019t asking him to become an All-Star again.<\/p>\n If he can defend, distribute and make life a little easier on the Kings\u2019 younger players, that\u2019s probably enough.<\/p>\n Grizzlies<\/p>\n Cameron Boozer<\/a> hasn\u2019t played an NBA game yet, but expectations are already plenty high in Memphis.<\/p>\n ESPN recently picked the No. 3 overall selection as its preseason choice for Rookie of the Year, ahead of Darryn Peterson<\/a> and AJ Dybantsa<\/a>.\u00a0And Amir Motameni of NBA on SI<\/a> thinks opportunity could be Boozer\u2019s biggest advantage.<\/p>\n The Grizzlies are rebuilding and should have every reason to put the ball in Boozer\u2019s hands immediately. The former Duke standout can score, rebound and create for others, and Memphis isn\u2019t exactly bringing him along to stand in the corner.<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t necessarily make Boozer the best rookie in the class. We don\u2019t know that yet.<\/p>\n But Rookie of the Year is often about opportunity as much as anything else. Boozer should get plenty of it.<\/p>\n Cavaliers<\/p>\n The Cavaliers will look considerably different around the edges this season, and Zach Weiss of NBA on SI<\/a> identified Sam Merrill<\/a>, Evan Mobley<\/a> and Tyrese Proctor<\/a> as three players whose roles could change.<\/p>\n Merrill could move from frequent starter to sixth man after starting 38 of his 52 appearances last season.<\/p>\n Mobley is the bigger one.\u00a0He averaged a career-high 13.2 field-goal attempts last season, but there\u2019s reason to believe Cleveland will feed him even more.<\/p>\n James Harden<\/a> gives the Cavs one of the best passers of his generation, and Donovan Mitchell<\/a> just said he expects Mobley to make another significant leap<\/a>. So perhaps 15 or 16 shots a night isn\u2019t unreasonable.\u00a0<\/p>\n Then there\u2019s Proctor, who could earn a larger role after showing flashes as a rookie and playing well for Australia over the summer.<\/p>\n The Cavs reached the Eastern Conference finals last season. Finding a little more from players already on the roster might be one way they get even further.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Kings We already know Ben Simmons is headed back to the NBA with the Kings. Now comes the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":828571,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,294,293,177,4070,6],"class_list":["post-828570","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-memphis-grizzlies","tag-basketball","tag-grizzlies","tag-memphis","tag-memphis-grizzlies","tag-memphisgrizzlies","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117218279624503936","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828570","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=828570"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/828570\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/828571"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=828570"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=828570"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=828570"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}