Yes, you read that headline correctly. Before I get into my breakdown of Chris Broussard’s embarrassing proposal, here’s the video with full context:

(The Houston Rockets) need[s] a front-court player they could run pick-n-roll with Harden, who can do more than catch a lob at the rim and dunk it, a la Clint Capela. I project this, Colin, Daryl Morey needs to get on the phone and call Philadelphia and offer Chris Paul for Ben Simmons… I don’t know if Philly would do it, but Ben Simmons could run the high pick-n-roll with Harden and, even though he can’t shoot, if you pass it to him in a pop, he can create a play for himself or another teammate.

To quote the Old Man from Pawn Stars, “Have you lost your damn mind?” Seriously. Chris Broussard was once a prominent NBA personality who was leaned on for his “insider” info at ESPN. What in the love of the basketball gods is this garbage? Where do I begin?

Let me start off by saying, I love Chris Paul’s game. Maybe I should say I loved his game. The man is 34 years old. He’s coming off consecutive seasons of 58 games played in the regular season and hasn’t played more than 61 in a regular season since 2015-16. His three point shooting has fallen off in each of the last three seasons. His 50.8% eFG% was the lowest fourth-lowest in his 14 year NBA career. To make matters worse, he is in the midst of a 4yr/$160m max deal he signed last summer. The Rockets paid Paul $35.7m this season to average 15.6 points per game. He’s owed $38.5m in 2019-20, $41.6m in 2020-21, and a player option of $44.2m in 2021-22. Simmons, meanwhile is on the hook for $8.1m in 2019-20, then the Sixers will almost certainly extend a max offer to their other franchise pillar.

Buckle up for a wild off-season loaded with trade hypotheticals for Simmons. Bill Simmons has come back multiple times in recent months to a hypothetical Simmons-for-AD deal, freeing Anthony Davis from his New Orleans purgatory. In addition to this Broussard nonsense, Tom Haberstroh of NBC Sports quoted a rival executive of a Simmons-for-LeBron trade, “I think they very well might explore that.”