Bill Simmons' trade idea moves Julius Randle, Khris Middleton, Tobias Harris

"It's like a Yankee swap in Christmas," Simmons said to preface the idea. "Detroit's taking almost eight million dollars extra salary to quote-unquote upgrade from Harris to Randle, maybe for this year, maybe for this year and next year if he opts in. Minnesota's saving a little money and getting rid of the Julius Randle issue that's kinda haunted them all season, even though I think he's a good basketball player, just doesn't make sense for them. I kinda like it. And Milwaukee's saving money."

The question is if this idea makes sense for all — or even any — of these teams. Let's run through each one.

The Wolves would be moving off of Randle, who the fan base has largely not been fond of since he was acquired in the blockbuster Karl-Anthony Towns trade before the season. That would allow Naz Reid to enter the starting lineup, assuming Middleton becomes their sixth man. Middleton is interesting because he's a three-time All-Star but is also 33 years old, has been highly injury-prone in recent years, and has a $34 million player option next season.

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Middleton is averaging 12.6 points, 5.1 assists, and 3.9 rebounds this season, playing 23.5 minutes per game across 18 healthy contests. He underwent offseason surgery on both ankles and has not looked like the same excellent player he was from 2015-22. Middleton has been a No. 2 on a championship team and was still great in last year's playoff series against the Pacers (he averaged nearly 25 points, 9 boards, and 5 assists in that six-game loss), but it's fair to wonder if he can get back to that version of himself after the two ankle surgeries.

A healthy version of Middleton makes more sense for the Wolves' roster than Randle, from a spacing standpoint. But the injury history is concerning. And if Middleton opts into his player option next year, that would likely be bad news for the Wolves' dreams of retaining players like Reid and Nickeil Alexander-Walker. Despite Randle not fitting in well, I don't know if Minnesota does this.

The Bucks probably do it. The 32-year-old Harris is a similar player to Middleton at this point, and he's more than six million dollars cheaper while also being more durable. He wouldn't really move the needle for Milwaukee, but he'd save them some money while fitting in as a veteran plug-and-play wing.

What about the Pistons? They've got the cap space to add salary, but it would depend on how they feel about Randle, who is a two-time All-NBA player with better numbers than Middleton and Harris (while being multiple years younger). It hasn't been a seamless transition in Minnesota, but Randle is averaging 18.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 4.5 assists per game while ranking second on the Wolves' roster in net rating. Would he fit well on a surprising Pistons team that has gone 23-21 this season behind an incredible breakout year from guard Cade Cunningham?

Simmons thinks Randle could take some of the pressure off of Cunningham, who has been incredible but also has 20 turnovers over his last two games. O'Connor doesn't like it.

"I don't want Randle clogging the lane for Cade when things are finally opening up for him and he's looking like a borderline All-NBA guy," O'Connor said.

Ultimately, this one probably doesn't make enough sense for all of the teams involved, despite being a fun idea from Simmons.