Terrell Owens thinks the Minnesota Timberwolves will get Ben Simmons

There’s suddenly a lot more chatter about the possibility of the Minnesota Timberwolves landing Ben Simmons.

The idea of the Minnesota Timberwolves trading for Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons is nothing new around these parts.

We covered it early (here and here) when the rumors first started to pop up. And we’ve covered it often, because it sure would be a dream scenario if Simmons ended up in Minneapolis.

Now, with the news that Doc Rivers is signing on to coach the Sixers, there are fresh Simmons rumors to unpack — and former NFL star Terrell Ownes is driving the bus.

Terrell Owens thinks the Minnesota Timberwolves will get Ben Simmons

Don’t believe it? Well, here’s the rumor, from “prospect specialist” and radio host Rashad Phillips.

And now, here’s the retweet and commentary from former NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens.

Well, Terrell, you’re the only one out there describing LaMelo Ball as a “shooter”, but ignore that part and everything looks great — then again, Ball is a 3-point shooter compared to what Simmons brings to the table.

Now, this doesn’t appear to be a real, sourced rumor. But it’s an idea that first popped up following the NBA Draft Lottery in late August and the ensuing early playoff exit from Philly. Now, with Rivers in Philadelphia, the idea has new life.

As noted in the above-linked articles, Simmons would give the Wolves two top-20 players and three in the top 40, depending on your view of D’Angelo Russell. While not being able to space the floor isn’t ideal, Simmons is so good at basically everything else that it would work beautifully with Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns.

Perhaps Malik Beasley comes back in restricted free agency, but perhaps not. The Wolves would need to find another shooter or two to round out the lineup, but a four-man group of Russell, Simmons, Juancho Hernangomez, and Towns is potent. Some combination of Josh Okogie, Jarrett Culver, and James Johnson would need to be in the Simmons trade, but the Wolves would still have Jake Layman and Jordan McLaughlin off the bench.

Frankly, if a team can get two of the best 20 players in the league on the same team, you do it. Towns’ offensive game is more versatile and efficient than Embiid’s so the pairing would work better in Minnesota. And a Russell-Simmons pairing on the perimeter would be ultra-dynamic and be able to cover a lot of ground defensively with their size.

It’s unclear if Mr. Phillips has any sourced confidence in this happening, and it’s fair to say that T.O. doesn’t have any clue if this is about to happen.

But maybe, just maybe, if more folks talk about such a deal, it might happen.

Get it done, Doc!