One small-market team has reportedly made an offer for Ben Simmons, Brian Windhorst of ESPN said on The Scoop podcast (h/t HoopsHype).
There’re four or five different teams interested in acquiring the 25-year-old guard, including the Cavaliers and Timberwolves.
Simmons has recently expressed an openness to playing in Cleveland, our own Chris Crouse relays.
However, it’s going to be difficult for Cleveland to put together the right kind of package to entice Philadelphia. It would likely take a third team to get involved in order to bring Simmons to town.
The same could be said for Minnesota, as they’re unwilling to include Karl-Anthony Towns and Anthony Edwards in any potential deal, and they’d also prefer to keep D’Angelo Russell given his great relationship with both Towns and Simmons.
More Sixers Rumors
- If the Sixers can’t convince Simmons to rejoin the team at least through December, then his trade value could take a hit, Derek Bodner of The Athletic says. All-Star caliber players don’t tend to be available in the first few months of the season, and if the Sixers are forced to trade him sooner than they’d like to, then they’d likely have to settle for multiple draft picks as their best return rather than trading for a Damian Lillard or Bradley Beal.
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Charles Bassey is likely to sign the one-year, non-guaranteed required tender, which would make him an unrestricted free agent next summer, Bodner passes along (same piece). Bassey has been working out at the Sixers’ facility, and isn’t holding out because of uncertainty of playing behind Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond, so the dispute appears strictly contractual.
- ESPN projects the Sixers to finish third in the East and win 50 games. With the Simmons situation unresolved and the East getting stronger over the offseason, the Sixers will have their work cut out for them.
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Any trade that sends Simmons to the Cavs would theoretically center around Collin Sexton or Darius Garland (assuming the two sides don’t bring in another third team to complete the deal). Our own Chris Crouse projects how Sexton could fit in Philly.
- ICYMI: The NBA could step in on the Simmons situation if the Sixers don’t fine the All-Star for not showing up to training camp. Our own Sameer Kumar has more here.
