Philadelphia 76ers forward Ben Simmons could likely remain on the team heading into next season as the start of training camp is just 40 days away and there’s been very little success towards a potential trade.
“I think for the Sixers, if they’re going to trade Ben Simmons, they’ve got to get back players right now who continue on that Joel Embiid timeline of having an MVP-level player in his prime, that you’re trying to win championships with, and that’s a hard package to get back for Ben Simmons right now,” said NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski. “There’s a very distinct possibility he’s going to have to come back to training camp with them next season.”
In terms of negotiating the asking price for Simmons, the Sixers have been in a stalemate with the rest of the league since the playoffs concluded.
As reported, Sixers’ president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey, has been asking teams for absurd trade packages revolving around multiple young players and picks for Simmons. Wojnarowski described the Sixers’ asking price as “(James) Harden-Esque” that would need to feature an All-Star player, draft picks, and potential pick-swaps.
Even with interest across the league, there aren’t many teams right now that have the assets to fulfill the Sixers’ wants and needs. It’d take a three or four-team blockbuster trade for Philadelphia to bring in that type of haul for Simmons.
“Philadelphia has continued to try to see if they can find a deal for Simmons before the start of camp. They have not had success, you know, really getting any traction for the high asking price they’re asking for Ben Simmons,” said Wojnarowski. “Minnesota is one team that’s been persistent with Philadelphia, but they’ve needed to have, really, third and even fourth teams in those kinds of deals to get back to Philly what it would want.”
With Simmons’ return to the Sixers being imminent, the idea of him remaining with Philadelphia for the first half of next season or possibly another year is on the table. The Sixers could then attempt to rebuild his value and revisit trade discussions at the NBA trade deadline or throughout the next offseason.
Simmons, 25, still has four years left on the five-year, $170 million max contract extension that he signed in the summer of 2019. This gives Morey and Sixers an ample amount of time to get a deal done, but it’ll be intriguing to see how he fits in Philadelphia’s short-term future if they fail to find a trade before training camp.
Despite being voted an NBA All-Star, the forward’s trade value plummeted following Philadelphia’s disappointing second-round loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the playoffs. His unwillingness to shoot the ball and appalling free throw percentage had a key role in their playoff exit.
Simmons’ poor performances were highlighted by just one play in the series against Atlanta. In the closing minutes of Game 7, he passed up a wide-open dunk and instead passed to a standing Matisse Thybulle, resulting in one made free throw after a foul.
“I’ll be honest. I thought the turning point was when we, I don’t know how to say it, is when we had an open shot and we made one free throw,” said MVP runner-up Joel Embiid after the season-ending loss.
Over 12 postseason games, Simmons averaged 11.9 points, 8.8 assists, and 7.9 rebounds per game on 62.1% shooting from the field for the Sixers. After being a borderline career 60% shooter from the free-throw line, he shot just 34.2% (25-73 Ft) in the playoffs.
Unless the Sixers lower their asking price within the next 40 days, next season is a do-or-die year for both Simmons and Philadelphia if they hope to have any success moving forward.
For more NBA coverage, click here.
