Confirming a recent ESPN report, Sam Amick of The Athletic says the Sixers have indeed explored including Tobias Harris in a potential Ben Simmons trade, broaching the idea in discussions with at least the Hawks and Kings.
As Amick tweets, adding Harris to a Simmons trade is viewed by rival executives as a major obstacle, further complicating negotiations that were challenging to begin with. It has also made those execs continue to question how serious the 76ers are about making a Simmons deal in the coming weeks, since there remains a strong belief their preference would be to wait until the offseason to see if other stars become available.
Although it’s possible Simmons’ suitors will improve their offers by the February 10 trade deadline, Amick says many of those clubs are apprehensive about betting the farm on a player with so many question marks.
According to Amick, some interested teams view Simmons’ years-long “confidence issues” on the court as a separate matter from his recent mental health struggles. Additionally, while the length of Simmons’ contract (which runs through 2025) has been viewed by many as a plus, some clubs have concerns about it, Amick writes. Simmons won’t be able to bolt in free agency anytime soon, but he’ll also be owed $113MM+ over three seasons (2022-25), with no guarantee that he can be trusted to perform like “the best version of himself” for a new team.
Here’s more on the Simmons situation:
- Agent Rich Paul met with Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and GM Elton Brand today to discuss the situation, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who reports that neither side has changed its stance — Simmons is no closer to returning and the 76ers haven’t lowered their asking price.
- Within Amick’s article, Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic says the Timberwolves continue to talk to the Sixers about Simmons, but with Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards off-limits, they haven’t been able to meet Morey’s high asking price. According to Amick, multiple rival executives believe that as long as the Wolves technically remain in the running for Simmons, they won’t make any separate deals that might take them out of the mix.
- The Sixers have “zero interest” in acquiring Russell Westbrook from the Lakers in a Simmons deal, sources tell Amick. That comes as no surprise — the Lakers’ interest in Simmons has been previously reported, but it never seemed realistic that L.A. could actually make it happen, given the team’s roster construction and limited assets.
- In a pair of articles for PhillyVoice.com, Kyle Neubeck considers whether the Hawks would make sense for the Sixers as a Simmons trade partner and unpacks the latest rumors about Harris. Neubeck doesn’t consider Atlanta an ideal fit unless Morey is willing to take back a package of good players instead of continuing to seek a star. He also views the Harris rumors as a sign of the 76ers doing their due diligence on every possible scenario rather than something the team is necessarily focused on.
So nothing new at all just another post for more comments
I’d imagine if I did mind hearing the ‘latest on BS’ I would not be reading an article titled such.
I really like the idea of Westbrook trade
Lakers get Simmons and Harris
76ers get starters with expiring contracts from third team
Third team get Westbrook
76ers sign Harden at free agent market in Summer
It’s too early to be this drunk.
I’m starting to think you don’t even read these articles
God I hope we don’t have to listen to this crap all over again. It was totally boring the first time.
Well at least we got confirmation that Westbrick is NOT coming to Philly. If this was going Westbrick I’d say okay, but he looks so bad in LAL.
I’d still welcome Simmons back he is still a punk, but if we can’t get a good deal for him just try and get lucky in the playoffs at full strength. Winning cures everything. Worry about it in the offseason if we had to.
if this was young *
Winning also increases trade value. Simmons could have helped himself out by showing up around Christmas and playing out of his mind for a month, then maybe Morey would actually have a deal on the table come Feb.
He always plays better leading up to the AS break because he wants votes. So yea he could be balling out right now and get another AS appearance.
i hope Sixers get eliminated in the playoffs and Embiid gets fed up and requests a trade. would be funny seeing Morey change his lil tune then
Lol, you think Embiid would request a trade. Ownership would fire morey before it came to that. Embiid loves philly, there is zero chance he requests a trade
Disagree
And I hope your favorite team implodes too? Want to kick some dogs while you’re at it? Embiid is all we got man go pound sand.
Embiid is certainly not “all you got”. You are a fan of a franchise that’s a top 10 team in the league and a team that has had plenty of shots at title contention the last 3-4 years. You do not know pain.
Before Embiid we tanked. Before we tanked we traded for Bynum who bowled more than he played. Before that we had years of being very average these were the Iggy and Jrue years.
The last time the team was actually good pre-Embiid was Iverson prime era and 01 was the only legitimate time they had a shot. The subsequent years they were not a real contender. It was just Iverson willing them to the playoffs.
@washington the process 6ers have never made it out of the second round
I hope Warriors get eliminated in the playoffs and Steph demands a trade.
I don’t see how the net gain on obtaining Simmons is worth it for the Hawks. He needs the ball in his hand to be effective and that takes the ball out of Young’s hands.
Thybulle would make more sense for them. They need defense.
Still think the best trade fit for Simmons is actually with the Celtics. If BOS doesn’t turn up soon or at some point this season I could see them moving Brown.
Brown for Simmons, Joe and a future 1st or something. Would give BOS a distributor and would make their backcourt D elite. PHI gets their second star.
I agree – Brown doesn’t have the name recognition of Lillard or Beal. But Lillard is having a bad season, as a PG, as an age 31 PG. That might make me think twice about trading for him. People have been waiting for the Beal trade since, what, 2018 now? Brown might be the best player realistically available – and he might not be that much worse than Dame or Beal.
Whereas for Boston taking a gamble on Simmons makes some sense. Boston is a big enough market that Simmons can still build a brand there, and more importantly Boston needs playmaking maybe more than any other non-tanking team.
Pairing him and Tatum has some logic to it.
Sure Brown for Simmons? Why would Boston trade a better player for a head case and worse player. And you say that makes sense how exactly? Wow
Just above, your comment was something about not wanting to hear this… why are you still reading?
At this point I think we can say that there is a real issue with Simmons. Whether it’s a “legitimate” mental health issue or not I can’t say. But what I can say is this:
If Ben Simmons wanted out of Philly this season he could have taken the floor, played the way he’s played the last 3 seasons, and Philly would in all likelihood have a deal on the table for him.
The fact he hasn’t might be due to severe anxiety, or it might be bad mgmt, or it might be that he doesn’t care about playing basketball, or maybe some combination of the three.
But if you’re a team giving up picks and players for him it has to concern you that – if things goes poorly with Simmons on his new team – that this situation could repeat itself. In that sense I think his contract length hurts instead of helps.
You speak sense. The reason the market is poor is that he hasn’t played – Jon Lester (happy retirement, sir!) had a fine career even after he was revealed to be a known ‘head case’ simply because he was able to compensate and perform at an elite level for many years. If Simmons doesn’t take the court, it is possible he could be another Royce White. High maintenance is not attractive in any relationship, but in sports it can be a killer, and his contract makes this high risk.
I agree that it could be more like another Philly situation – Andrew Bynum, who really did not have a passion for the game he was gifted at. That is probably worse, but either is negative for any potential trade partner.
“If Ben Simmons wanted out of Philly this season he could have taken the floor, played the way he’s played the last 3 seasons, and Philly would in all likelihood have a deal on the table for him.”
BS on BS. Speculation. No reason to believe Morey would have done Simmon’s bidding. Best speculation is that BS wanted out long ago (once it became clear the Sixers were Embiid’s team), but Morey would not let go of his precious. Plenty of evidence BS has not been happy, and, the fact BS lowered his own value should have made him easier to trade. But Morey wants to punish him for trying to sign & run.
Contracts are for suckers— and agents wanting thier piece. BS undermined himself by re-upping.
Simmons ‘mental health’ issue is just that he does not believe he can play his best under the stress that Philly fans put him under, and the negative commentary that says he has to immediately change his game to be a 25ppg scorer that shoots jumpers. He is not that type of player and Philly will not accept him until he is. He knows this and does not want to play for them anymore because of this. So, without any other way to say it, this can only be characterised as a mental health or psychological issue. He mentally cannot handle playing for Philly because their fans have unrealistic expectations. That should be clear to anyone familiar with the situation, and quite frankly, understandable. Who would want to play, or be able to, play their best when someone trashes you every time you get on the court?
How is learning how to be confident in shooting a basketball an “unrealistic expectation”? The fans of this city cheered this man through all his faults and shortcomings so don’t give me that BS that we trashed him every time he was on the court.
My guess is that Simmons will eventually be traded to the Kings, BUT …. Kings better do UBER due diligence on Simmons’ mental state and attitude and REFUSE to give up any lottery picks . Still think Simmons is a flake and bad trade risk, but Kings are probably desperate to do SOMETHING and have good tradeable players.
Who is more delusional?
The Lakers for thinking that they could dump Westbrook for Simmons.
Morey for thinking he can trade Simmons and Harris in the same deal.
Simmons for thinking he will be cashing $113 mil in checks over the next 3 years.
Honestly, I can’t decide.
Lottery teams don’t want Westbrook
So Westbrook can only go to top 8 teams in each conference
Blazers makes perfect sense to me
Clippers?
Mavs?
Nets?
YAWN ……
The odds are low that teams will give up much for an overpriced head case who has no jump shot.
Just because Simmons and Harris MAY be in the same deal, it doesn’t mean they are both going to the same team. Four-teamer in bound.
Yes, th is is a reasonable rumor. Harris is no hero in Philly, and could provide cover for whatever BS gets (i.e., confuse BS trade critics).
Kings are the best destination. They always suck so they might as well roll the dice, are a perennial lottery team so good draft picks and Rivers can pick which guards he likes. A playoff team is not going to give up the players and disrupt team chemistry so you are looking at Kings, Thunder, Pelicans, teams with less to lose.
The Sixers are hopeless. They’ve childishly wasted this season in a tantrum about last season. If Ben doesn’t want to play, then get something back for him! How in God’s name will just keeping him there make you better?
All you saying Ben can’t play are just butthurt Sixer fans salty about Philadelphia being unable to win anything and need someone to blame. Don’t worry guys, you’ll still be able to blame Doc, Morey or Embiid when Ben goes.
You can probably trade Harris for McCullom.
Who knows what Sacramento is doing. They don’t even know. If they got Ben and Thybulle to put with Davion Mitchell, they could start building some kind of identity on defense, but they have been totally lost for years. They need to move some guys cos none of Fox, Halliburton or Hield seem comfortable in knowing their role.
Minnesota could throw an unprotected first round pick and DLo to a third team, but I’m not sure who because no one has any idea who exactly Philly thinks they can get back. I’m surprised they aren’t asking for Curry at this rate. They are being completely ridiculous.
Simmons, Thybulle and a first to
LAL, AD to POR, Dame to PHI. Unlikely, but I think each team would have to seriously think about it.
If I have to guess, I’ll say Morey makes no trades, Philly gets knocked out in the first or second round, and we see more offseason shooting videos from Simmons.
Why in the hell would Portland trade Dame only to get back Anthony Davis? They would “seriously think about that”. You arm chair GMs are hilarious. Thank goodness you aren’t real ones. No offense
And if it’s so easy to trade a guy with confidence and mental health issues, call Morey and give him your expertise
As Sixers fans, we never stated Ben “can’t play”. That’s asinine. All we asked was for him to develop some sense of confidence to shoot the damn ball and not turn into a liability which he did against Atlanta. Every offseason was the same thing; hitting shots in an empty gym only to be let down when the lights shined the brightest. We stood by this guy through all the BS for the past years and now he wants to blame the fans for his shortcomings?
If you have to blame others for your failures and your shortcomings, then you’ve definitely got some stuff going on outside the game of basketball
Simmons is also being just as or if not more ridiculous than the Sixers. You think if he’d show up, lace up his big boy sneaks and ball, he’d have a better chance of getting what he wants?
Sixers aren’t trading him for pennies on the dollar. Doesn’t work like that. Salaries have to match. If Morey can’t get what he wants, he doesn’t have to trade him. Ben can sit on his ass and wilt like a prune
After time, you get sick of these prima Donna athletes with all their gifts and all their talents b***h and complain about the fans who pay to come see them play
One last point to make. Blame Doc Rivers? Absolutely. Been there, done that and rightfully deserved.
Blame Embiid? Not likely. Not after he dragged his ass up and down the court on a torn meniscus averaging 30 a game only to watch his guy buckle like a belt
Nope, the opposite. The way the NBA works, the better he plays, the less likely he is to be traded, and to be traded to a team that has other good players. See Harden, James. His reps obviously know that.
No amount of wishing things were different can compensate for the Sixers just effing this situation up.
Harden, James was dealt for 4 1st round picks back to a rebuilding team, not a contender. Little bit of a difference.
Again, the sixers aren’t trading him for pennies on the dollar. You can spin however the sixers effed this up (and they aren’t saints in this by the way) all you want but in all likelihood, Simmons sits out the year
I think it’s slightly more nuanced.
In October-November, yes. Simmons’ increased his hand by sitting out. And previously by demanding a trade. I’m with Simmons on those fronts.
But at this point I’m not so sure he’s helping his own cause*. A healthy 25 year old sitting out an entire season of his prime might actually make some GMs who maybe doubted his mental health issues previously start to believe there IS a real issue. If I’m the GM of team X why am I going to give up a king’s ransom for a guy on a max contract that, I don’t know, might be in and out of the line-up for the rest of his career? That’s a great way to get myself canned.
*Assuming that he doesn’t have a serious mental health issues, which is still possible, although it doesn’t seem like that many NBA insiders believe it to be the case.
You do realize AD is like 10 times better than Dame, at the very least… so what is your point!
AndyMeyer is really mad! He thinks Lillard will stay the same, never winding down, and, “all we asked [Simmons] to do was to [be someone who lacks a weakness, while valuing him in trade like he’s all complete]”.
You do realize that swapping out Anthony Davis for Dame makes Portland no better than what they are now, nor does it make them better in the future. Trade an aging guy starting to show injury for another aging guy who can’t stay on the court. Makes sense…..
Simmons is sulking like a 4 year old that didn’t get his way. That’s his only mental health issue.
#FreeBenSimmons
Any hoops fan is just wishing that Ben ain’t ever gonna play for PHI again, they crush & burn this year & Embiid gets so sick of wasting the whole season that he demands his own trade… that would be the dream scenario for PHI right now, would love it… can’t wait!!!
In no way do I think the Sixers are in a horrible position. They are secure in a playoff position, sold out every home game, developed Maxey into a good player, developed Korkmaz and Milton’s point skills and still have Simmons to trade for good asset(s).