What could the Philadelphia 76ers get for Ben Simmons on the NBA trade market?
The three-time All-Star has reported to the 76ers, but the team announced Tuesday that Simmons has been suspended one game for conduct detrimental to the team, a suspension he'll serve Wednesday against the New Orleans Pelicans.
Should 76ers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey swing a deal now? What types of moves are available that will improve Philadelphia's roster after a disappointing second-round playoff upset?
Our NBA insiders are breaking down their best trade scenarios for Simmons, including two blockbusters that break up the Portland Trail Blazers' star guard duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum.
Simmons goes to Sacramento
Kings get:
Ben Simmons
76ers get:
Buddy Hield
Tyrese Haliburton
Marvin Bagley III
Morey has been looking for a king's ransom in exchange for Simmons, and he gets one here. Haliburton is another big point guard who is coming off a strong rookie campaign and would be a core player who could fit immediately into Simmons' starting role. Hield's outstanding long-range shooting would give the 76ers a different dimension as they try again to leap to the championship-level tier.
Hield and Seth Curry on the court simultaneously, getting open shots created by the defensive attention drawn by Joel Embiid, is a scary thought. Bagley was the No. 2 overall pick in the draft just three years ago, and if he can shed his injury-prone label, he still has a mountain of potential.
The Kings have been widely rumored to be shopping Hield and Bagley this offseason. (Hield nearly went to the Lakers before they traded for Russell Westbrook ahead of the draft.)
Haliburton is an outstanding young player, but Simmons has legitimate, achievable All-NBA upside and, at 25, could become a long-term centerpiece of the franchise. Simmons could also fit with De'Aaron Fox, Sacramento's other main pillar, by moving to more of a frontcourt role and anchoring the defense while providing the secondary playmaker role on offense.
Giving Simmons a fresh start in a new market, and playing next to Fox, could allow him to finally reach his awesome potential.
-- André Snellings
The superstar swap with Portland
Trail Blazers get:
Ben Simmons
Tyrese Maxey
Two first-round picks
76ers get:
Damian Lillard
If Morey and coach Doc Rivers want to maximize Embiid's championship window, this is the deal they need to make. Sure, there are plenty of trades that can net All-Star-caliber players, depth and/or future assets. But if they're going to try to hoist the Larry O'Brien Trophy, they need to swing for the fences and grab a top-10 player to pair with Embiid. This would make the Sixers one of only a handful of teams with two legit MVP candidates on their roster. It would place them right near the top of the Eastern Conference hierarchy. Plus, with Dame Time on the team, you know where the ball is going at the end of games.
I know Portland is not keen on the idea of parting with Lillard. However, I still believe Simmons is a franchise-type player. He would still be surrounded by a good supporting cast that includes McCollum and Jusuf Nurkic. Simmons is an excellent distributor and definitely improves the Blazers' porous defense (they ranked 29th last season). Maxey is a young player with plenty of upside who got invaluable experience playing in the playoffs last season. Not to mention, Portland would add two first-round picks to help bolster the roster either via the draft or trade.
-- Jorge Sedano
Simmons and Lillard pair up
Trail Blazers get:
Ben Simmons
76ers get:
CJ McCollum
Nassir Little
Future first-round pick (two years after Philly's first-rounder to Chicago is conveyed)
Morey is shooting much higher than this, as Lillard is the player he wants if the 76ers send Simmons to Portland. At some point, however, Morey will need to stop pretending that Simmons is valued as a superstar in his prime and not as an All-Star with significant flaws.
McCollum has never been an All-Star, but he might realistically be the best player Philadelphia can get in return for Simmons at this point. He's averaged an efficient 21.8 points and 3.8 assists in six seasons since becoming a full-time starter, and with his skill set, he should be able to thrive playing off of Embiid with the Sixers. He also averaged 22.8 points per game in the playoffs during that span, and as much as Dame Time dominates the headlines, McCollum has proved himself as a willing and able clutch shot-maker.
Little, 21, a late first-rounder two years ago, is a talented project on a rookie deal.
The Blazers are in a rough spot of needing to upgrade the roster to keep Lillard content with staying in Portland -- with the risk of a big move still not being enough to prevent the face of the franchise from eventually asking out. That's a harsh reality the Rockets recently lived with James Harden, forcing them into a full-fledged rebuilding project after his partnership with Westbrook fizzled quickly.
Dealing for Simmons without giving up a ton of draft capital would allow the Blazers to hedge their bet.
Simmons could be a phenomenal co-star for Lillard, serving as a hyper-talented Draymond Green to the Portland star's Stephen Curry. Imagine that duo running pick-and-rolls 30-plus feet from the hoop, the gravity from Lillard's ridiculous shooting range often putting Simmons in position to catch the ball going downhill and attack defenses with a 4-on-3 advantage. Simmons, a stopper who can guard any position, would also give the Blazers a chance to finally fix their defense.
If the Blazers can't contend -- and keep Lillard -- the 25-year-old Simmons would at least be one significant piece for Portland's rebuilding project.
-- Tim MacMahon
Chicago feels bullish on Simmons
Bulls get:
Ben Simmons
76ers get:
Zach LaVine
Derrick Jones Jr.
There is a significant gulf between the public perception of Simmons and his trade value around the NBA. After a particularly rough postseason -- including the notable moment in the fourth quarter of Philadelphia's Game 7 loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals when he passed up a chance at a wide-open dunk -- the Sixers find themselves in a position where they'd like to move on from Simmons but will only do so for a reasonable return for a 25-year-old three-time All-Star.
So what is that return?
Well, the most logical deal on the board, ever since the idea of trading Simmons has come up, is not to move him for Portland's McCollum, as has often been suggested. Instead, it is to send him to Chicago for another mid-20s All-Star-level player in LaVine, plus a physical forward on an expiring contract in Jones to balance out the money. (Note: This trade could not be made until Oct. 28, when Jones can be aggregated with other players in a trade).
LaVine isn't a perfect player by any stretch -- particularly defensively. But if there's any team that can make up for those deficiencies, it is Philadelphia, which can surround him with above-average or better players at that end at just about every position, including arguably the league's most dominant interior defender in Embiid. But it's at the other end where LaVine, who shot better than 50% from the field and 41.9% from 3-point range last year with Chicago, could do wonders for a Sixers offense that never ceases to get stuck in quagmires while trying to navigate its awkward fits across the court.
Swapping Simmons for LaVine -- plus Jones, who could play some forward minutes off the bench -- would allow Philadelphia to replace its All-Star with another one.
Chicago, meanwhile, offers the best opportunity for Simmons to maximize his talents, with a partnership with All-Star center Nikola Vucevic -- one of the best shooting big men in the NBA -- precisely the kind of tandem that would allow Simmons to accentuate his speed, size and skill set in getting downhill to the rim to either score for himself or create for others.
The fit alongside Lonzo Ball and DeMar DeRozan -- Chicago's two prized offseason acquisitions -- could be clunky, which is a concern. But one big advantage to getting Simmons from Chicago's standpoint is the certainty of having him under contract for the next three seasons after this one. LaVine, on the other hand, will be an unrestricted free agent next summer and could leave for nothing. Given the Bulls can't trade a first-round pick for the next several seasons after their moves this offseason, some certainty moving forward would be a good thing.
-- Tim Bontemps
Minnesota creates a Big Three of No. 1 picks
Timberwolves get:
Ben Simmons
76ers get:
D'Angelo Russell
2022 protected first-round pick (top-3 protected in 22, top-2 protected in 23 and unprotected in 2024)
2024 protected first-round pick (two years after the 2022 first is conveyed -- top-5 protected, top-3 protected and top-1 protected)
This is not the "grandfather" of an offer that Morey was holding out for, but it is the best available trade package that will come his way.
The trade with Minnesota for Simmons checks the boxes on what Philadelphia is hoping to accomplish. Philadelphia receives an All-Star-caliber point guard back in Russell and two potential lottery picks.
Despite missing 49 games the past two seasons with various injuries, Russell still averaged 20 points and six assists. He is under contract through the 2022-23 season. The 76ers would still remain one of the favorites in the Eastern Conference even with Simmons not on the roster.
This would be considered a swing-for-the-fence type of trade for Minnesota considering the package sent out, but keep in mind that Simmons is under contract for the next four seasons. If Simmons were a free agent, it would be unlikely that the Timberwolves would be on the top of his wish list of teams to sign with, but the grouping of Karl-Anthony Towns, Anthony Edwards and Simmons -- all former No. 1 overall picks -- would leave the Timberwolves with three franchise-level players.
-- Bobby Marks
The bet against Ben
Cavaliers get:
Ben Simmons
76ers get:
Kevin Love
2022 first-round pick (unprotected)
2024 first-round pick (top-4 protected in 2024, unprotected in 2025)
2026 first-round pick (available two years after 2024 pick conveys, top-4 protected in 2026 and 2027, unprotected in 2028)
All of these trades are premised on the idea that the Sixers need to get as much talent as they can to replace Simmons, even if it's with multiple players. What if Philadelphia decided that Simmons wasn't as key to their success as previously thought and there was already enough talent on the roster with young ball handlers Tyrese Maxey and Shake Milton to fill his role?
That perspective would free up the 76ers to prioritize accumulating as many good draft picks as possible for a future trade for a disgruntled superstar. Essentially, the Sixers would be betting that losing Simmons wouldn't hurt them much and would leave his new team in the lottery. Enter the Cavaliers, an interesting fit for Simmons because his size would pair well with their undersized backcourt of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton.
To get Simmons while using Love as matching salary, the Cavaliers would have to part with multiple first-round picks, all of them eventually unprotected: one entirely unprotected for 2022 and two that would ultimately become unprotected by 2025 and 2028, respectively, after being previously protected only if Cleveland jumps into the top four of the lottery. If the Cavaliers struggle this season, the 2022 pick could be as valuable as any traded pick by this year's deadline.
Both sides would be taking huge risks here. Cleveland risks giving up multiple high picks if Simmons doesn't lead the team back to the playoffs, while Philadelphia could be parting with Simmons for only middling picks and have to pay Love the remaining $60 million and change on his contract.
Still, Morey didn't get where he is by avoiding risks. If the 76ers are convinced Simmons will never reengage with the team, a trade like this would be the best way to spin his value forward until a star becomes available.
-- Kevin Pelton