Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and general manager Elton Brand met with agent Rich Paul this week at the pre-draft combine in Chicago to begin discussing potential next steps for Ben Simmons, reports ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
According to Wojnarowski, Paul spoke to the Sixers about whether it would make sense for the two sides to work together to find a trade for Simmons this offseason. However, Simmons’ camp has not made a trade request and discussions about his future are expected to continue in the next several weeks.
Sources tell Wojnarowski that the 76ers are committed to keeping Simmons for the long term. Given the way that the 24-year-old’s stock dipped during the postseason, that likely just means the team doesn’t want to move him for 50 cents on the dollar — I expect Morey and Brand would pull the trigger on a trade if they felt they were getting fair value.
For what it’s worth, Wojnarowski hears from sources that Simmons’ value on the trade market remains “significant,” despite his offensive struggles in the playoffs. Teams have been gauging Philadelphia’s interest in potential trade packages at the combine in Chicago this week, Woj adds.
Head coach Doc Rivers spoke after the Sixers’ season ended about the team’s plans to address Simmons’ offensive struggles and efforts to improve his shot this summer. Simmons and Rivers met this week to discuss that plan, according to Wojnarowski, who says the club is reluctant to seriously consider trading the former No. 1 overall pick without exhausting all options to improve his offense.
[RELATED: Simmons: “There’s A Lot Of Things I Need To Work On”]
Simmons, who was the runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year award and has been an All-Star in each of the last three seasons, still has four years and approximately $147MM left on his contract with Philadelphia.
I’m 100% sure
Simmons will be traded by trade deadline
I don’t use vague words to tell a lie
Is this an Irish haiku
Just spit my coffee out laughing when I read this.
This kid is 1 of the best players in the league. As much as I love John Collins Id definitely give him & Kris Dunn up for Bennie. It’s ridiculous how quick people forget smh. Philly was absolutely terrible before Ben showed up. He’s been exactly what I thought he’d be except he’s a little better defensively than I predicted. People forget how he shut down Trae in gm7 & did a great job of slowing him down all series. Obviously chasing 1 of the quickest & best pgs in the league all game is gonna affect a 6’10 245lb guy on the offensive end. He’s extremely agile, athletic, has high bball iq, he’s long, extremely willing passer. I would LOVE to have this guy on my team. Obv he has to improve his ft shooting & he will. He’ll never be a guy that’s gonna hit jumpers but he’s shown in numerous playoff gms & throughout his career in the reg season that he does literally everything else on the court at a very high level. If Philly ain’t the spot for him then ATL would love to have him
Lol ok
The reason people forget how he shut down Trae in Gm7 is because it was utterly meaningless since they lost anyway because of his offensive timidness and lack of shooting ability.
Lol Philly didn’t lose solely bc of Ben’s lack of shooting ability. If that was the case they would’ve sucked the entire season & def wouldn’t made it out the 1st rd. Ben shut down Trae in an extreme way thru 3qtrs then Matisse Thybulle guarded Trae most of the 4th & Trae took over again. Trae just put up 48 on Jrue & Milwaukee. Trae destroyed Bullock/DRose & NY. But he was much less explosive/efficient vs Philly. That’s not a coincidence
Nobody is knocking the kid for his defense. You don’t pay a dude $147 million dollars for defense alone. “Effort to work on his shot”. It’s a broken record and quite frankly, tired of hearing it. He can shoot the basketball. He’s just needs the confidence and mental toughness
Jason Heyward would beg to differ.
Solid reply. Tips hat
Heyward was paid because he was 26 and was the best perceived FA bat on the market for the next 2 years. MLB players don’t become FAs that young typically if they are good. Cubs won a WS and have been wanting to trade him ever since. It’s been consistently discussed as the worst contract in Baseball.
Chris Davis says hello
One of* MLB has several dumpster fires
You realize I know all of this already? Lol. I’m a huge Cubs fan. Thought it was fairly obvious by my handle but I guess not.
It is no where near being the worst contract in baseball. He is an average outfielder. He puts up decent numbers. If you want to look at horrible contracts, look at the Yankees. Stanton has like decade left on his contract at $30 million per year. He has limited defensive capabilities, and is hurt half the time. The Angels are still paying Pujols.
Ben Simmons definitely can not shoot the basketball. Working on his shot should mean working on his baby hook, his fts & finishing around the rim. He never could shoot & it has always been obv (to me at least) that he never will be able to shoot. That being said he’s still a future HOF level guy. Not just bc he’s a great defender (maybe all time great), but bc he’s also 1 of the best pgs in the league & a great rebounder as well.
Ben Simmons not only has not worked on his shot in his four years in the league, but he’s actually gotten worse. Take a look at his percentage of shots by distance. As a rookie, 78.7% of his shots were within 10′. This past season, he’s up to 91.0%. He’s had four years to work on his mid-range and beyond game and hasn’t. Those are center numbers, but he’s a guard.
Baby hook? Free throws? Not going to happen. He is who he is and seemingly has no desire to change.
Simmons stock hasn’t sunk so low that he would only bring back Collins and Dunn.
And don’t get me wrong, I like Collins.
Only John Collins? Lol bro you should google John Collins
I know who John Collins is. Thanks Bro.
You might think you do but it’s very clear that you don’t
Nope, I sure do. Thanks again bro.
Kind of a funny way to talk hoops, but if it’s all you got.
As I said, I like Collins, he and Dunn wouldn’t get a trade done for Simmons.
I probably wouldn’t trade Ben for John either if I’m Philly. Both guys are great but Ben is just so much more unique & versatile. But clearly both guys are among the top forward sized guys in the league, both still barely just reaching their primes. If you really know John Collins game you wouldn’t have disrespected him like that
I didn’t disrespect him. I disrespected your trade idea, which then you immediately disowned yourself.
Atlanta would need to throw in more for Simmons than only Collins and Dunn. That’s all I said. And you just agreed with me.
For the third time, I like Collins.
My bad dude I read your 1st comment wrong. I thought u said Ben’s value HAS sunk so low that he would only bring back John & Dunn. You said hasn’t, my bad again. Yea you might be right that it hasn’t. It definitely has in popular opinion. These folks have definitely jumped off his bandwagon. More than really proposing a Collins/Simmons deal I just was trying to say I’d love to have Ben on the Hawks. He’s a great player & it’s crazy how people are going at him rn
We can argue who knows Collins better and who knows Simmons true value, etc etc etc
But the trade makes no sense for Philly regardless of value. Tobias, Collins, Embiid … and Curry running point? They need someone who’s going to create a shot outside the post at some point.
It also makes little sense for Atlanta. So you’re playing Capela and Simmons together? Did you just watch Simmons and Embiid for the last four years? And Embiid has way more range than Capela. Not even Trae could make that combo work.
Take Trae Young out of the equation and Atlanta doesnt advance. They did.
Trae Young was in no way shape or form “shut down”.
He was the straw AND the drink for the Hawks vs Philadelphia. They don’t win the series if he’s shut down.
Shut down is an exaggeration no doubt. I agree with everything you said tbh. My point is that Ben slowed down Trae alot & is probably the best defender of Trae in the world rn. He’s arguably the best overall defender in the world period & understanding that & how important that is goes a long way to understanding how valuable Ben is. He’s clearly 1 of the best players in the league & he’s only 24
Clearly in the top 200 players no doubt.
I’ma guess u meant top20, bc that is what a perennial all-star usually is
People want an explanation for Ben just hanging out low on the backside all the time. Not that I am asking for one because I am 100% sure nobody knows. Doc Rivers may know but I doubt it. His trade value will vary too widely, based on that, for any GM to have the guts to pull the trigger on any deal.
Gotta say, covid seems to have longer-term effects on bigger guys, if any effects at all.
Ben’s fatal flaw could be hidden during the regular season, but (as this season proves) the regular season is largely meaningless. He shot 33% from the free throw line in that series so of course they kept fouling him (especially in the 4th quarter) because everyone knew he was going to miss far more than he made. Then that got in his head so he wouldn’t even take wide open dunks by the end. You can’t win with a PG who can’t make jump shots or free throws no matter how good his D is.
You took the words right out my mouth.
I would take him on my team, as well.
Still wouldnt trade him for anything short of extremely significant. Just use him right, and the rest of the roster right, and if he becomes more aggressive when he should be, or even improves, it’s a plus
Simmons is not going to the warriors so before anyone claims they want him stop it. Warriors said he is not on their list of players to get because he plays almost the same position as Draymond Green. Simmons is close to the same player.
Aside from the fact Simmons is 5 inches taller, 6 years younger, and can play point guard.
Getting a younger, more athletic version of Draymond Green does have its appeal.
For what it would cost in the future its not worth it. You would be giving up Wiggins who is young and scores more points plus Wiseman who is only 20 plus draft picks. No thanks because Simmons best years may be now.
Lies – Draymond and Steph are the best two point guards in the league, and neither of them play PG. Simmons might be third though???
That said, there’s certainly room for Simmons, if you only want to care about defense and are fine with Steph being the only true playmaker who can get his own buckets. Klay is catch and shoot, that’s not creating shots, GSW lack a true one of those types. The most balanced thing for GSW to do is to get one of those, but getting Simmons for Wiggins will make the defense even better (dont forget GSW was a top 5 defensive team last year already). arc89 wants to write it off because its not the “best” move they could make, but that’s wrong, its still most certainly “a” move they could make.
If the trade is simply Wiggins-Simmons straight up, I’d do it. Phily has Embiid already, Wiseman makes no sense there.
I think people are conflating perimeter defense with post defense/rim protection with these Dray-Simmons comparisons.
Ben Simmons is an elite perimeter defender. Could he be a great rim protector? Maybe. But we haven’t seen it yet.
As is, his perimeter defense isn’t nearly as valuable as the post D of Draymond, Capela, Gobert. If perimeter defense=post defense then Marcus Smart would currently be on a max contract.
Also, not for nothing, Draymond is a marksman compared to Simmons. He can at least make his free throws and, in his prime, was an underrated threat from deep.
Problem is Marty Wiggins is better offensively than Simmons so you lose offense. So you gain better defense but lose on offense. Second is 76ers is not going to do a straight across deal for Simmons. 76ers need a real PG so if they were to trade Simmons they would want a PG.
You’re a Warriors homer yet you don’t know what position Curry plays? Last I checked he’s the point guard
The most important job of a point guard is to run the offense and play good defense vs the opposing guard. Neither Curry nor Draymond are the best point guards. Please stop the nonsense. Curry might be the best shooting PG but he’s not the best overall PG.
Simmons is a PG; Draymond is a PF. How are they the same? Doesn’t make sense.
OKC trades Kemba and two lightly protected first-rounders for Simmons, then gets Simmons to take 4 right-handed threes per game and shoot FTs right handed next season.
Helps Simmons’ career long-term by letting him grow his game in a zero pressure, non-playoff environment. OKC obv tanks the ‘21-22 season while letting Poku and Simmons grow their game and they add a top 5 pick in the ‘22 draft after sucking again next year. OKC re-emerges as a playoff team in the ‘22-‘23 season with an in-his-prime, rebuilt-jumper Simmons, Shai, Dort, Poku, Bazley, this year’s No 6, and all those future picks they own.
Or OKC flips Simmons at the deadline for a bad contract and even more picks after six months of letting him rehab his jumper and raising his market value in their low pressure non-playoff environment.
Sixers replenish their draft pick stock and get a PnR point guard in Kemba.
“How about no” -Dr. Evil.
Philly needs a better deal than this.
Kemba doesn’t move the needle to make the Sixers a contender.
Philly should explore a Colin Sexton and Ben Simmons deal.
Sexton is up for a contract extension and could swap salaries with Kevin Love involved.
The bare bones would be
Sixers get Sexton and Love
Cavaliers get Simmons and Maxey
Money works.
Fill in the rest to make it work for both teams.
Cleveland is already looking to shop Sexton as they might draft Suggs.
Sixes improve their 3 point shooting over Simmons as sexton is a career .385 shooter and .371 last year and love is a career .370 shooter and shot .365 last year.
Cleveland gets a hopeful building block in Simmons at 24. Plus instead of giving sexton a contract they can fit Allen long term as well and clear loves salary.
I like it but I would like to see Maxey moved on for Toppin, stuck behind Randle in NY. I have always liked Maxey as an MSG ringleader. And Sexton can finish better than Maxey who is not always advancing the 76er/Embiid program. And Love would be motivated.
Of course, I just posted that Simmons would not be traded. So how about Tobias? Yes
Harris+Maxey for Love+Sexton, then Maxey for Toppin.
Sounds like a suggestion of mine a year or two ago.
Tobias and Toppin plus whatever else cavaliers get back would definitely work with Suggs, Garland, and Allen. I can see that happening
New York reuniting Maxey with Quickley would be an intriguing situation too.
Cleveland can always send Harris to a contender for draft picks.
Maybe LA for Kuzma+? LeBron could use a #2 if AD gets hurt again.
Kemba is too large of a risk. But isn’t Cleveland about to pay Allen a big chunk of cash?
This is the issue with Simmons trades. A team that’s invested in the 5 spot isn’t going to be interested unless they really believe Ben’s going to learn how to shoot.
Sexton makes sense on Philly though.
Cleveland currently has
Love on a big deal
Needs to pay Allen this off-season
Needs to pay Sexton next off season, theoretically.
Moving Sexton and Love and bringing back Simmons or Harris negates the financial responsibility of paying Sexton and let’s them pay Allen. Theyd essentially swap salaries of Love and Simmons, or Harris. Theyd then draft Suggs to replace Sexton with #3.
Moving Sexton and/or Love makes sense. I just don’t think I’d reconfigure my rebuild around Allen and Simmons.
Very intriguing deal but I highly doubt Rich Paul would steer Ben to Cleveland
I am pretty sure this meeting with Rich Paul today is 1. Do the sixers want to keep him and 2. If they don’t, then we will not be okay with him going a small market. Unfortunately that’s how these guys work. Or 3. We’d like to unite him with Lebron and AD in LA which Morey would then laugh at since the lakers have nothing else of value to trade.
Maybe if Okc was really replenishing the 6ers,with like 6,16,a unprotected 1st in 2 years,another lottery protected 1st,and the 6ers pick Okc got for Horford.
Boston gave up 16 and took Horford to get rid of Walker.Okc would be moving Walkers contract and acquiring a all star,all defensive 1st team pg that’s 24.
Sixers had Noel – he refused to work on his game beyond being a rim runner. He was a good defender, particularly off ball shot blocking. He was shipped out of town. Okafor was shipped out of town for not working on his defense, even tho he could have been a 20-10 guy.
Sixers don’t have the luxury of waiting on Ben Simmons for 4 more years to think about shooting the basketball. JoJo won’t last that long.
Jason Williams wasn’t a great shooter and was a true pass first PG, but he worked on his game and developed at least a league-average shot. AND he shot 81% from the line.
Simmons is LBJ’s court vision & passing, Bruce Bowen’s Defense, Andre Drummond’s Shooting Ability, and Darko Milicic’s Confidence.
He’s the antithesis of ‘shooters gonna shoot’ in a league that is more about offense than ever before.
Look at Lonzo Ball with that terrible shooting form – worked on it – and his shot has improved YOY. Ben is just lazy/wuss. You pick.
This is the best post I’ve seen regarding the Simmons situation on this site.
You’re 100% right. Simmons doesn’t have Shaq/Giannis hands where he’s shooting a tennis ball and it’s impossible to truly improve.
Guys who have earthling sized hands, historically, have improved their shot through reps. We’re 5 years into Ben Simmons — he’s gotten worse. That says it all.
Rich Paul is bad for everything
i certainly respect Ben for not asking out. that would be an easy out in this situation, but its nice he’s not taking it.
Simmons for Buddy Hield…
If anyone has an audience with Rich Paul please tell him that I can help Ben in both areas…
If anyone has an audience with Rich Paul please tell him that I can help Ben in both areas…
Simmons for Wiggins straight up lets go
As a Sixers fan, I don’t Wiggins or DLo from the Wolves. I’ll take Beal, LaVine or McCollum in that order.
Simmons for CJ McCollum. Salaries work and the Blazers could use him at 3 or 4 with plus defense. Sizers get a volume quality scorer
Lillard has the ball all the time. What would he do there?
Not play point guard, which imo is creating a lot of Simmons’ issues.
Simmons for McCollum is the trade that makes the most sense to me, too- if Philly is going to trade him. Getting Simmons may alleviate some of Dame’s concerns, if he has them. Simmons can do what he’s good at in Portland, and be appreciated for it. Philly also gets it’s scorer, who probably fits better with Joel.
Has to go to a lottery team in a small market where there’s no other dominant ball handler. Less pressure and a chance to find himself
Rich Paul? Working together to find a trade partner? This couldn’t be any more feeble. Philly (Morey) needs to figure out what they need to ADD, not who they need to subtract. Morey needs to communicate what he’s looking for in a Simmons trade, and NOT to Rich Paul. While I’m at it, Morey also needs to shave, lose weight and cancel his twitter account.
Minnesota would be a good trade partner. Simmons would help on the defensive side and have Ant and KAT be the scorers. Dlo would probably go in the trade, or Beasley, another player and/or picks.
I hope Simmons stays with the 76ers, rather than selling low at age 24. Have him work with the team’s coaches, not his brother.
Simmons would definitely leave. Rich Paul begins advising him to request for a trade. Lebron-AD-Simmons,there’s your new big 3 in LA!
The NBA is funny. You can be a Top-25 player in the league but most people would say you suck or it’s hollow. Ben Simmons and Russell Westbrook.
Sixers might keep Simmons, but then would need to move Tobias Harris’ max contract, to land a perimeter ballhandler and scorer that meshes with Embiid, which despite a bounceback year from Harris, is quite a hard sell.
Simmons time with the SIXERS has ended. His career will be better revived somewhere else.
If Lebron thinks that Simmons as a LAKER, can get him another ring, then Lebron will make it happen. He’s the LAKERS GM after all.
Lakers have nothing the Sixers want and Simmons is under contract for 4 years not much he can do about where he “wants to go” doesn’t really matter.
Sixers don’t need a mediocre forward with pee color hair, don’t need an over paid KCP, or a forward only effective from 2 ft out.
if simmons wants to team up with lebron, sixers & lakers will find a way…
It would have to be a three team trade. They’d need to find a team with a star looking to blow it up and start over, maybe Washington? The trade would look something like this:
Sixers get: Bradley Beal
Lakers get: Ben Simmons
Washington gets: expiring contracts from the Lakers, plus a lot of Sixers 1st round picks and Lakers picks, and probably one of the younger Sixers players with promise (Maxey, Thybulle)
If LAL didn’t use LBJ as their GM that would be criminal neglect of duties!!!
If you have a superstar like him, let him get who he wants, otherwise you can have a team of middling stars without much identity, like MIA, & be happy letting the old dude make the decisions, right?
They could hypothetically build something around Schroeder via sign and trade … not sure LeBron wants to do a reclamation project in his age 37 year though.
so what do you have in mind if you’re sixers’ gm that is a fair trade for simmons?
Hope the 6ers keep Simmons. Let the trainwreck continue