Irrecoverable in the current state of things, the situation of Ben Simmons in Philadelphia, however, struggles to evolve in the direction of a departure. The 76ers leaders would actually only want one man as part of a transfer from their star point guard!
Two weeks have passed since the opening of the free agency; a first assessment can therefore be drawn from their offseason. And the least we can say is that the Sixers have not really driven the market. Only two recruits currently fill the workforce, namely Andre Drummond and Georges Niang. For the rest, the front office made sure to keep the most important elements of Doc Rivers’ rotation.
Danny Green and Furkan Korkmaz have both renewed their leases in Philadelphia, while Joel Embiid has just initialed a huge contract, to the tune of $ 196M, now binding it to the franchise until 2027. On the sidelines of this pretty and peaceful picture, a star of the workforce could nevertheless pack his bags, and not least. Full member of rumors for weeks, Ben Simmons always remains on the go.
Weakened by his last failed outings in the playoffs, the Australian leader would see himself discovering a new environment far from Pennsylvania. Jake Fischer from Bleacher Report has therefore reported the latest news on file, which leave little room for doubt as to its outcome. The journalist nevertheless reports that a trade could only be carried out… only in a very specific scenario, involving another big name in the league!
If the Sixers and Daryl Morey agree to transfer Simmons, it will be with the desire to maximize the bonus of Joel Embiid, who just signed a 4-year, $ 196M extension on Monday. This is why trading Simmons for anything other than a package that could immediately be swapped for Lillard, in the event he asks to leave, would be a huge blow to the Philadelphia front office, which wants to pair Embiid with a superstar. confirmed. But this Lillard request might not come anytime soon.
As the journalist rightly points out in the end of his explanation, a problem remains in this whole masterplan: Damian Lillard still does not seem inclined to leave Portland. He also showed it recently on Twitter, with an unmistakable comment. Therefore, this status quo on the Blazers side blocks the transfer of Simmons by ripple effect.
A regrettable observation for Big Ben, which despite its recent difficulties on the floors, retains the interest of several franchises. One of them could also have made a move in recent hours, in the desire to recover sufficient assets to secure its services. However, there again, only a shocking decision of Lady seems able to make all this possible.
Still hoping to get their hands on Damian Lillard, the 76ers voluntarily leave Ben Simmons’ case on stand-by. The latter could however quickly lose patience if this continues.
