Ben Simmons is putting pressure on the Philadelphia 76ers to trade him, but the longer this saga stretches out, the harder it will be for Daryl Morey to find a satisfactory offer. The team’s chief decision-maker was reportedly seeking a “Harden-esque” package of picks in exchange for his 25-year-old All-Star, but thus far, no trade partner has stepped up. In fact, one of the teams with rumored interest will not include either of its best two young players.
According to The Athletic’s Sam Amick, the 76ers spoke to the Sacramento Kings earlier in the offseason about a possible Simmons deal, but were told that the Kings would not include either of its prized guards, De’Aaron Fox or Tyrese Haliburton. That would leave them to build a deal around players with significantly less value around the league like Buddy Hield and Marvin Bagley as well as draft picks. At this point, it appears that the Sixers are not interested in such a package, so the Kings are an unlikely destination for Simmons.
Simmons would prefer to land with one of three California teams, a Western Conference executive told Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. It is unclear whether or not the Kings are one of those teams, but considering the alternatives are Golden State and the two Los Angeles teams, it is highly possible that they aren’t. Pompey reports that the Warriors have already turned down an offer involving Simmons. The Lakers and Clippers simply don’t have the assets to make a competitive offer.
The team reportedly pursuing Simmons most heavily is the Minnesota Timberwolves, but they reportedly lack the sort of win-now pieces Philadelphia wants for Simmons. The 76ers have Joel Embiid, the MVP runner-up, in his prime. It is unlikely that they would accept a package based primarily on picks unless they believed they could later turn those picks into something more immediately valuable.
For now, such an offer does not appear to be available to them, and they’re running out of time to find one. Training camp will begin later this month, and Simmons will reportedly not attend. That will put more pressure on the 76ers to take the best offer they can, because the longer this drags on, the more leverage they lose.
