NBA World Reacts To The Ben Simmons Trade Rumors
Will Ben Simmons be a member of the Philadelphia 76ers next season?
The answer to that question is very much up in the air following Game 7 on Sunday night. Simmons and the Sixers fell to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Philadelphia, the No. 1 seed in the East, is going home early.
Simmons is a major reason why. He had a pretty awful series against Atlanta, often disappearing offensively in the second halves of games. At the end of Game 7, Simmons wasn’t even on the floor for multiple key possessions, as Doc Rivers clearly didn’t trust him with the ball.
Should the Sixers pursue a trade for Simmons in the offseason? Many in the NBA world are speculating that a trade is coming.
The question, of course, is how much value does Simmons currently hold? NBA front offices watch the playoffs, after all, and Simmons didn’t show much value against the Hawks.
It will be interesting to see what kind of player the Sixers can get back for their former No. 1 overall pick.
The Sixers will obviously explore the Ben Simmons trade market in the offseason … as seen in January when Simmons was the centerpiece of Philadelphia's James Harden pursuit. That's not the question.
Try: Is there a market now?
— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) June 21, 2021
The #Sixers have to trade Ben Simmons. It’s like the Carson Wentz situation — addition by subtraction.
— Eliot Shorr-Parks (@EliotShorrParks) June 21, 2021
(One actual serious Ben Simmons trade take: The 76ers are not going to have to dump him. There are rebuilding teams that will be interested. He will return positive value if Morey decides to move him — which, like, he should)
— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) June 21, 2021
His value is at an all time low, and he is far from the only reason Philly’s season is over. But Ben Simmons simply cannot be here next year, for his sake and the sake of the franchise https://t.co/ZOGPMDkx14
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) June 21, 2021
Simmons, meanwhile, has made it clear that he wants to stick around.
“I want to stay here, I love it in Philly. I love this organization. The fans are great, great people. I had a bad series, I expect that [the fans to chant ‘Trade Ben Simmons’],” he said.
Ben Simmons on staying in Philly: “I want to stay here, I love it in Philly. I love this organization. The fans are great, great people. I had a bad series, I expect that [the fans to chant ‘Trade Ben Simmons’]."
— Austin Krell (@NBAKrell) June 21, 2021
Some players getting mentioned as possible targets for the Sixers in a Simmons trade are C.J. McCollum, Zach LaVine, John Wall and Kemba Walker, among others. Of course, this is all just speculation for now, but a Simmons trade seems very possible this summer.
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