1:07pm: In addition to Indiana and Minnesota, the Cavaliers and Kings are “known suitors” for Simmons, according to Marc Stein, who says the Raptors are also believed to have expressed interest.
9:42am: The Sixers have opened up discussions about a possible Ben Simmons trade and have engaged with teams, reports Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Following a disappointing postseason, there was a sense that Simmons’ value around the NBA may have dipped. However, sources tell Charania that the 76ers’ asking price in their trade talks has been high.
“(They) want an All-Star-caliber player in return,” one source told The Athletic.
Simmons’ reluctance to shoot and his struggles at the free throw line in the second round of the playoffs played a part in the Sixers getting eliminated earlier than expected by Atlanta.
However, the former No. 1 overall pick has a strong NBA résumé, including three All-Star berths and a runner-up finish in this year’s Defensive Player of the Year voting. He’ll be entering his age-25 season and is under contract for four more years — as Charania notes, that kind of team control is rare for a star player on the trade market. Leaguewide interest in Simmons continues to be “robust,” per The Athletic.
According to reports in recent weeks, the Timberwolves are among the teams expected to pursue Simmons, and the Pacers are believed to have made a trade offer.
The Sixers have suggested both publicly and privately that they’re comfortable working with Simmons on his shot this offseason and bringing him back in the fall. While that may be posturing, the team’s high asking price in talks so far indicates that president of basketball operations Daryl Morey won’t be looking to sell off the three-time All-Star at a discount rate.
For what it’s worth, Charania says Simmons appears to be exhibiting a “renewed determination” to improve and expand his game this summer. Whether he’ll play his next game as a member of the Sixers or another franchise remains to be seen.
Wait…does this story get re-posted every week?
And?
Who are you? Yes the story gets posted quite often until the guy gets traded or until the team says we looked at all the options and we’re not trading him. He is a pretty big name and if there’s a scoop I want to hear about it or read about it.
What are you complaining about? I want to hear about ALL the rumors. All of them. That’s why I come here and it’s the best site in the world for hoops rumors.
It’s a failure to perform your job if you don’t look into ways to improve your team. Morey should be taking these calls. I’m ok with them bringing him back IF he is actually going to put the work in this time. The previous coaching staff didn’t really seem to have the right plan nor hold him truly accountable. I trust Morey and Doc to do that.
If they do trade him, the asking price should absolutely be high. Regardless of what all the GMs on here say and think, Simmons still has a high value around the league according to front office executives. This has been reported by Zach Lowe, Woj, and Shams to name a few. I’ll trust their sources to accurately gauge his value more than the people on here. Regardless of how bad his playoffs were, and they were terrible, he is still an all star caliber player. If he becomes even an average shooter or around there, he is a nightly triple double threat. And if he doesn’t, he is still a top 2 defender in the league across 4 maybe 5 positions.
Ok ill bite
Why should a player who has not improved offensively in 6 plus years who is not playable in the 4th quarter bc of his lack of FT shooting be priced high?
Sixers should of dumped him when his stock was high. The red flags have been there for years with Simmons, he says he is going to work on his shooting every summer. Puts out a terribly edited video showing him with nobody on him in some crappy Gym in LA make 3 shots in a row.
This is not new. Sixers believed the hype, now if they want to salvage Embiid, they must dump him asap.
So no the return will not be high. It will be a starter and picks, no all stars are coming back.
The reasoning from the executives was the same. Teams believe that when he gets into their system they can fix him. Again, I’ll believe the Lowe’s, Woj’s and Shams of the world what their sources say over CF from hoops rumors who thinks its a starter and picks.
Last time I heard Lowe comment on it (and it was recently) he was emphatically saying that the Dame Lillard offers for Simmons are off the table.
I guess it depends on how we’re defining “high” value. As recently as January a Simmons for Harden deal seemed realistic.
Now it seems significantly lower than that (which to be fair was extremely high value) — not from b*ttholesurfer69 on HR, but from the very Insiders you cite.
They could still and probably will get an All Star for him. D’Angelo Russell has been an All Star and he’s young. Maybe D’Aaron Fox (altho he’s never been an AS). Maybe even LaVine.
But the 1st team All NBA guy for Simmons seems like it’s very unlikely at this point.
Simmons for Lillard isn’t realistic. Simmons/Maxey/Thybulle and picks? That’s different.
But no I don’t think anyone with a brain is realistically thinking Ben is a 1 for 1 with any high level player like that.
I think we listened to the same podcast episode. Those offers are gone yes, but you can still get an all star for him was what Lowe said.
Exactly.
No way blazers take Simmons for lilliard even if they could include every pick from now until 2030. Lilliard is a franchise player where you can build around him, Simmons is not. Simmons is simply a role player and that’s it.
Lol
No credibility sighting.
You’re both just tremendously wrong. Trading for Simmons means at a minimum you are fine with his shooting ability (or lack there of). His price is high because he’s been on 3 straight All-Star teams DESPITE having the holes in his game that he has. Add to that, he has been named 1st team All-Defense in back to back years as well as his age, you’re not looking for a role player and a 2nd in return. There’s so much more that goes into winning a championship than having 5 guys who can drop 30 points on 6/7 from 3. For a site with “trade” in the name it always baffles how clueless most people are on values of players
@bonercats – So what are you looking for in a Simmons trade? Name a few players instead of listing the accomplishments of Ben Simmons for us?
Let me add one thing before you do though: Asserting that a team at minimum is fine with Simmons’ shooting ability if they choose to trade for him is the one of the most asinine things I’ve read in this forum this week.
ANY team that’s trading for Simmons is hoping he improves his shot. Not only because any that trades for him (or anyone else) would naturally want him to reach his potential but also because Ben Simmons Is A Historically Bad Shooter In A League Where Shooting Is At A Premium.
Simmons has value. But much like, say, Rudy Gobert, that value is more subjective than normal, and for that reason the potential offers for him are going to be extremely variable – which is why it’s fun to discuss his value.
@surfer Kemba or Gordon Hayward stand out to me as comparisons to what Philly should be getting back for Simmons. And its amazing to me that you think a team would trade for Simmons and not be okay with his shooting is it is. Saying that teams would only trade for him in hopes he develops any sort of jumper is undeniably false. You don’t think Philly was hopeful he would learn to shoot? Teams aren’t going to give the 6ers anything for POTENTIAL shooting. Simmons trade value has less than 0% to do with his potential and I’m not sure what planet you live on where anyone with half a brain thinks Simmons will miraculously figure out something as fundamental as shooting the freaking basketball with merely a change in scenery.
@boner So we may actually be making similar points here – because if what I’m giving up for Simmons maxes out at Kemba or Gordon then I would agree, I’m NOT paying for potential shooting, at all. But those are far inferior players than the players previously “rumored” to be in play for Simmons (Beal, Harden).
I personally am in the camp that Simmons will most likely see little to no improvement on his shot, since he’s had 5 years to improve and regressed rather than improved. However, if I was giving up a premier player in exchange for him (Lillard, Beal, even Fox to some extent) I would HAVE to be banking on him learning to shoot and reaching his potential, otherwise my trade is a loss.
Simmons won’t come out jacking 3’s next season but he will certainly be a more willing shooter… taking the shots he SHOULD, while also being respectable from the free throw line.
It’s a start.
Cool it w Simmons jacking lol this site is sfw
Sixer’s with Embiid and Simmons on the court are a +16 points per 100 possessions. That’s insane.
At the end of the day this can be fixed with internal player development or a free agent signing.
If he doesn’t bring great value in a trade then stand pat and be happy being a top 3 seed in the East for the next 3 years.
Exactly. People act like he is a huge drain lol. He is still a positive player.
Good! He’s all yours! Enjoy.
Ok. I’d be perfectly fine with keeping him.
in the end you will be happy because he will probably not be traded. 76ers want a all star coming back in trade and set the price very high. most teams that want him do not have a all star to trade or players worth his price. just enjoy the laughs of fans wanting to trade bench pieces and late draft picks for him.
I want to keep him and believe we will. I am
Open to trading Tobias though. I am not trading Ben unless Lillard or something similar comes open…and even then I am reluctant. I get that Ben came up short on the playoffs, but he is also 25, ROTY, 3 x all star, 1 all NBA, 2 defensive team…not sure how many guys have equaled that at 25, but I am sure the list is very short.
Philadelphia will fail in the playoffs EVERY year with him on the team. Keeping him is the definition of insanity. Get pieces and move on. He’s not bringing a championship.
He IS a huge drain especially in the playoffs. He clogs the post and is sick a bad FT shooter that he avoids shooting in the 4th. That’s horrid.
Why wouldn’t their asking price be high? If prior reports are true, and Brogdon and a remote 1st were offered up, and rejected, then is it even rational to believe the team would turn around and set an “ask” of less than that. Brogdon may not be an All Star, but, at least IMO, he’s a very high end starter. Obviously, what they end up (if they make a deal) may not bear any relationship to their ask.
Good luck w that philly….don’t have much leverage now that you’ve shown your cards and want to jettison him. Dudes who can’t shoot or play at the end of meaningful games bc they can’t shoot fts don’t exactly have massive value that you’re seeking. But houston is always out there to scam them out of picks.
Considering the article says that minimum of five teams are actively pursuing him, I think they have plenty of leverage. You act like every team in the league didn’t already know that he was available. Cmon now.
T PUPS will have to give up Russell, Rubio, and young McDaniel and a top ten protected first in 2022. To get him
I think I might do that deal if Philly included either Maxey or Thybulle.
thats a pretty fair trade. Sixers get more shooting and a solid replacement in Russell
Imagine choosing Doc Rivers over a guy like this…there are issues with him not being willing to attack, but you can still win with him. It’s just hard to do so when your coach wont play the guys you actually have on your roster that would help you do that, because he has no idea what their names even are, let alone their skillsets
Who is the bigger problem? Coach or Simmons? to me, Simmons.
It’s not even close, its Rivers. This is a ridiculous statement, and you are better than that
Simmons is charged with being the primary ball handler. He missed 15 of 45 FT.
In their losses he missed 24 FT. In their losses they lost by a total of 16pts or 4 points per game. In the 4 combined 4th quarters he only scored 8 pts total.
Yeah …I blame him more than I do Doc. Coach put team in a position to win. If role players fail that’s one thing. When your #2 is a non factor for the most important quarter then HE’S the problem.
What would the difference have been if he wasnt playing where maybe Trae Young is actually more efficient, being guarded by someone eelse? This is just really oversimplified. Obviously, he needed to attack the paint more. It’s not even the scoring that’s the issue, and even missing FTs, they still could have won, but they just kept letting little dudes guard Herter in the half court, as the same things happened over and over, while they had defensive wings/guards on the bench. Doc Rivers used George Hill in lineups without Embiid or Simmons, which makes zero sense. The whole reason they even traded for him is to be on the court with at least 1 of those guys. Where is the questioning of why he played so many minutes going -15 multiple times?
Also, the issue of him being the primary ball handler and not wanting to get fouled wouldn’t be an issue if his coach used him right and played him at the 5 in a matchup like this, or used him at the 4 in 2nd units the way they did the entire season. 1 thing you are ignoring is the incredible versatility a player like Simmons gives you, regardless of whether or not he scores, which isnt that much of an issue when you have other guys who do that, and who play really well off catch and shoot opportunities, which he is great at setting up. The lack of aggression attacking the paint is the issue, not lack of scoring. It’s also passing up certain shots that shouldnt be passed up b/c that is worse than missing, but they still could have won anyway
Hmmm…1 seed in the East, lost in the 2nd round…I think I will take the Ben problem over the Knicks and Cavs problems…but hey, you do you
It’s crazy when Ben was hurt last year and they got eliminated in the first round no one talk about Joel like that so you telling me you going to trade a 6”10 point guard I guarantee you next year Ben Will be going crazy on a league
A point guard that cannot shoot. An oxymoron.
Point guards are for PASSING not shooting. Isiah Thomas of the Pistons is one of the best PGs of all time and he couldn’t hit water if he jumped out of a boat. But he could pinpoint pass with the best of them.
PGs need court vision, intelligence, passing, steals, ball handling all above shooting. There is a reason the 2 guard is called the shooting guard, because he is the one supposed to be doing the majority of the shooting.
IT averaged 19 ppg on over 45% FG and 75% FT shooting for his career and won Finals MVP averaging 27.6 ppg. Simmons averaged 10 ppg and only hit 33% FT in the series vs Hawks. Horrible composition.
So you are comparing the entire career stats of one man vs, six games of another man? I’m pretty sure I could find six bad games of EVERY player’s career. Unfair comparison.
He literally can’t shoot anything more than 5ft from the basket. That’s a HUGE factor for your POINT GUARD!!! If he was Shaq level beast without Embiid then that might be different.
Hey Hey
Ho Ho
Ben Simmons needs to go
Second verse a little bit louder and a little bit worse
Hey Hey
Ho Ho
Ben Simmons needs to go!
Chanting like that is what women did during the years of American suffrage. You should be proud of yourself
@Zach H
Well if you were truly enlightened it was a derivation from Al Bundy and married with Children
I’m sorry but who wants a guy who makes 30+ and can’t shoot ?
Simmons would make a good #3 player like Draymond was back when his team was still a contender. But that team was extremely deep before they added KD and Green dropped to being #4. Good luck to those who think the Sixers will get a favorable return on their trade. It will be difficult just to match salaries so they’re going to have to take back a bad contract or two.
The years on Simmons contract are probably a plus for the sm mkt teams that are currently offering, but it may be a minus for other teams.
Simmons right now — love him or hate him — is a coin flip. He’s either going to get some kind of jumper and fix his head at the line and be a franchise-ish player.
OR: he’s broken mentally and/or just doesn’t have the drive, and that contract will be up there with Wall and Walker’s. Because if he comes back next season the same player then he’s basically Kristaps Porzingis in terms of value.
Why do the Sixers have to “work with him on his shot”? He’s a professional athlete making millions of dollars. Can’t he show enough dedication to his craft to do that on his own? I’m sure some initiative – and a few dollars – on his part would identify a great shooting coach who could work with him.
I would personally be embarrassed to be this deep into my career and still have that be an issue.
It could be worse…I would be personally embarrassed to be a Knicks and Cavs fan…but seriously how can you be a fan of teams in 2 different cities? I am a fan of one team and hate all of the rest lol
Hey. I spent decades in both. Is what it is. Baseball is only exclusively NY. (Yankees).
That’s like cheering for the neighbors kids instead of your own lol
Simmons to cavs for sexton and picks?
No.
Kings are an interesting match.
Shaquille Simmons for Bertrans or Avdija whatever his name is!!
My Hawks should bring back Josh Smith, S&T for this Ben Jenner! If he was playing in 90’s, he wouldn’t sniff a bucket. Oakley would make him cry on National tv!!! Soft as hell!!
Move Simmons to PF and sign a vet PG that will take a vet’s minimum that doesn’t turn the ball over and can shoot. Someone like Patty Mills. If Simmons doesn’t like it trade him to highest bidder.
Simmons would be awful at PF .. he can’t shoot bro .. thats like 90% of a PFs job these days
Big Ben popped 40 plus on the so called best defender in the NBA so he can score. Big Ben at 24 3 time all star two time all league defense rookie of the year . The league knows the kids value.
Popped 40+ not to mention giving up 40 to Clarkson.
Funny how Embiid played ’bout the same last years playoff than he played this year, a real beast!
But last year without Ben they were swept in the first by a below average BOS team… with Ben this year they almost made it to the ECF… it seems to me he helps to win, right?
B/C the only option is it must be all Simmons…
I’m pretty sure it has nothing to do with that and everything to do with the fact that I could’ve shot better than Ben in that series
The NBA is a fast moving stock market when it comes to player eval
I relate it to dog years
1 yr NBA = 3 MLB years
Simmons value was hurt this playoffs majorly so any podcasts, things you read on Ben 3 months ago really need to be recomputed
Theres enough willingness to make shake-ups around the league this year to still get a good deal. The bad free agency year also helps imo, think we will see an epic S&T offseason starting soon and some big big deals. Por Gsw and Minny are my best fits for Ben imo …I think he moves ultimately, we have now passed the “this will be a distraction ” next year if we keep/he struggles phase increasing the odds of just ripping the band-aid off next month
CP3 has been in the league 48 years?
There is a key word in that statement. That word is CALIBER. That doesn’t mean Philly expects to get back an established All Star player like Lillard. It just means they expect to get back a player capable of being an All Star in the future.
That can be a wide array of players ranging from Malcolm Brogdon or Collin Sexton or DeAngelo Russell or DeAaron Fox. And that is just on the teams listed. I would trade Brogdon or Sexton in any deal for Simmons. Russell, I would depending on the other parts included. In no way would I ever trade Fox for Simmons though.
The only team to get Simmons should be GS because of they have the splash brothers and don’t need to worry about Simmons lack of shooting. However if I’m Philadelphia I want Klay as part of the trade package.
If they trade Klay then they won’t have the Splash Brothers anymore?
He’s a huge part of what they do even if he’s only 80% of his old self coming up. In fact Klays defense is pretty good and subtracting him and adding Simmons on that end of the floor is not worth what you lose on offense.
If I am GS, I would trade Klay in a heartbeat for Simmons. Klay was great, but who knows what he can do after missing two years in a row. At the same time making maximum salary. Personally I don’t think Klay has any value at all and is arguably the worst contract in the league right now.
He could surprise me and come back and not miss a beat, but that a heckuva gamble at his cost to take.
I’d like to think I’m a rational fan. There’s a lot of garbage trades getting thrown out and there’s a lot of casual fans that think they can just get anyone.
Dame is mentioned because a lot of people in the league are waiting for him to be done with Portland. Portland is not shopping Dame. If they trade him it’s because his camp said to do so.
Same goes with Bradley Beal. Those are my Top-2 Targets. And they are the only premier guards that COULD be on the block.
Stepping down a tier and you’re talking about LaVine and Fox. I don’t think either is on the block unless the Bulls want to get out of having to offer super max. And the Kings would need to have some plan that involves Halliburton and Hield working with Simmons.
Real players that could be dealt are CJ McCollum, Buddy Hield MB3 and a 1st, Brogdon + LeVert/Lamb, Sexton + salary matching, Beasley Rubio and Picks.
I don’t think they want DLo or Kemba. And I don’t think the Wolves want to include Edwards and the Cavs don’t want to include Garland.
Really they can match 40M easily with Simmons and Hill. They can also include Shake or Korkmaz. They also need to retool the Bench and the MLE goes away if they hardcap.
Hey phillyballers, how about the assortment of Goodies the Warriors have dangling? (Sorry for the imagery.) Any of that would interest Philadelphia? In your opinion of course.
It would have to be part of Wiggins plus whatever.., your opinion. But Wiggins of course cuz of the money the Warriors would be taking back. Big bucks in means big bucks out for Golden State at this time. Of course that might be why you did not include the Warriors in your post LOL. No desire for Wiggins.
Wiggins isn’t terrible, but I don’t know that Simmons is the fish they’re trying to catch.
Also they already have a all-defense player that can’t shoot (Draymond).
No. Besides you can’t play Simmons and Draymond together.
Why can’t you play Simmons and Draymond together?
I’ve heard people say that but I don’t get it. Draymond is your small ball Center in the closing Five Minutes of the game if it’s close. Right now it’s Draymond and Kevon Looney. Kevon Looney can’t even do what Simmons would be able to do in the post and layups and dunks.
Draymond Green and Looney is worse LOL Draymond Green and Simmons would be an upgrade actually. I don’t understand what people say that.
They would be great defensively. The problem is they are both only effective when the offense flows through them. Ben is useless without the ball. He has zero post-up game. And Draymond doesn’t really get a matchup he can expose when on offense unless he is hitting 3s.
Technically Ben is efficient offensively but it’s skewed because it’s all dunks and layups.
If the Sixers did something with GSW, Klay and #7 make more sense for them. But I don’t see how GSW gives up on a healthy splash brothers.
Look at Ben’s TS%. .584 — For comparison, Luka was .587, despite shouldering ~900x the usage. Embiid was .636.
So even with just dunks and layups, Ben isn’t all that efficient.
Im not sixers fan.but i still think ben simmons is very good player.sixers should keep him and let him play as pf.
I disagree (but agree Simmons is very good), but if we go with the idea of Ben at the 4 where do you play Tobias. Tobias is a good (not great) 4, but he is a negative at the 3 which is why Doc moved him back to the 4 that he primarily played in LA. Then you have a logjam (even worse) than before. Not to mention you lose Ben’s versatility to defend 1-4 on any defensive switch.
The fact Doc didnt do it is why I would move Harris back to SF and try Simmons at PF. Doc is terrible!