Stephen A. Smith Clarifies What He Said About Ben Simmons

Stephen A. Smith recently provided some interesting insight on the current Ben Simmons situation in Philadelphia.

On Wednesday’s episode of First Take, the ESPN analyst said a possible trade of Simmons for Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving was entirely in the question until Kevin Durant stepped in to block it.

“Kyrie could have ended up in Philly,” Smith said. “[Nets general manager] Sean Marks couldn’t do that cuz KD wasn’t having it. … I assure you, if it were not for Kevin Durant, the Brooklyn Nets would be interested in making that deal.”

These reports made some significant waves around the NBA world as some assumed Smith was implying that an official trade offer was made and rejected.

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Smith clarified his statements.

“Here we go with the lies again. I never said any trade offers were made regarding Kyrie & @BrooklynNets. What I said is, they would do a deal to swap Kyrie for Ben Simmons in a heartbeat, but @KDTrey5 ain’t having it. He loves his brother Kyrie. He won’t have that!” he wrote.

Coming off of a dreadful playoff performance in 2020-21, Simmons recently requested a trade away from the 76ers franchise.

While this specific offer may not have been made, Daryl Morey and the Sixers have made some trade offers for the three-time All Star — nearly all of which were ridiculously rich given Simmons’ recent struggles.

All things considered, a Simmons-Kyrie trade could’ve be a mutually beneficial deal for the two Eastern Conference teams. Kyrie in Philadelphia could provide some much-needed perimeter scoring to space the floor for superstar center Joel Embiid and Simmons would be a solid defensive complement to the offensive firepower of Durant and James Harden.

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