Ben Simmons won’t be in a Sacramento Kings jersey anytime soon — if ever — unless the Philadelphia 76ers’ asking price goes down dramatically. Even if BetMGM has them handicapped as the third-most likely team to land the 25-year-old three-time NBA All-Star whose days in Philadelphia are numbered. According to a source with knowledge of their situation, the Kings spoke to the Sixers weeks ago and made it clear that neither De’Aaron Fox nor Tyrese Haliburton would not be included in a possible Simmons deal. That stance, the source said, has not and will not change and the internal expectation is that the core of their roster will remain the same heading into training camp later this month. There are no current conversations between the two teams and, barring a drastic change in demands, it appears the Kings are an unlikely landing spot for Simmons. If there is a Kings deal to be had eventually, Kings guard Buddy Hield and forward Marvin Bagley III have been widely seen as the most likely players to be included. Per the source, the Kings and Sixers have not talked about Simmons since the conversations weeks ago. The Sixers’ high demands are well known around the league, with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey making it clear to several teams that he’s looking to net a combination of high-level players or elite young prospects in addition to multiple first round draft picks in exchange for the 25-year-old All-NBA talent. To cite one example, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in late July that the Sixers asked Golden State for Andrew Wiggins, former No. 2 pick James Wiseman, the No. 7 and No. 14 picks in this year’s draft and two additional future first rounders. But with less than four weeks until camp, and with the revelation this week that Simmons has told the Sixers that he wants out and that he doesn’t plan on reporting to camp if he hasn’t been traded by then, the harsh reality for Philadelphia is that there’s even more incentive for interested teams to remain patient now. Even with Joel Embiid’s Twitter rant on Tuesday, when the Sixers big man professed his love for Simmons and said of their title chances that “we know we’re good enough to win,” the fact remains that this situation is growing more uncomfortable by the day.
Rich Paul is making Morey's life miserable by deflating the value of his client by reporting that he wouldn't show up to training camp even if it meant getting fined. Shouldn't have messed with Rich Paul. Morey needs to learn from Tilman/Stone and give the man what he wants.
i bet if morey could do any thing over in his front office career, its going back in time and never pressing send on that china tweet
I have a feeling if Simmons does go to the warriors, Green will probably be traded to the Blazers. Dame and him want to be teammates and Green is not happy with the organization. We can possibly do a 4 team trade. Warriors. Blazers. 76rs. Rockets Simmons. Green. Wall. Harris Gordon. Seth. Cj. Fillers House. Wiggins. Covington 1st rounders? I know its alot but i think it works for everybody. We get out of wall and gordon, and Harris we can flip him later. Warriors will still compete and they get younger green on Simmons. What do ya think?
Daryl Morey talks and tweets and creates controversy. Rockets wanting the Warriors, Warriors get motivated and Curry, Thompson 3 balls destroy the Rockets NBA Adam Silver punishing the Rockets with no calls after the Spurs Goaltending Game. Adam Silver and Referees give no calls to the Rockets in critical situations The China Controversy NBA GMs honestly are blackballing and ignoring Daryl ignorant one sided trades.
Raptors is the best place for Ben Simmons, he hopefully can improve with a Psychologist and a real shooting coach, with skilled former Point Guard
I agree completely. Very poor foresight. At this point, I don't really see a scenario where Simmons or the Sixers could do anything to raise his trade value. It doesn't even matter if Simmons plays this year because he can't redeem himself or his trade value until the playoffs are at least half through. Morey needs to dramatically back down and take the loss of value Simmons once had in a graceful way that doesn't rip his team apart. In the Harden situation, he was extremely valuable to a lot of teams, so asking for a lot and holding out until someone got desperate enough was a valid strategy. You can ask for more than you'll likely get for an MVP without looking foolish, then eek down based on the trade proposals to something that is still a great package. Morey's pie-in-the-sky asking price right now is so completely absurd that he's just insulting other teams, and providing massive distractions to everyone on his own team. If this is the moment Morey thinks his asking price should be at its highest because he thinks he can wait for someone to get desperate, I think he'll be waiting forever. Why not go ahead and lower the asking price to something that is a realistic starting point for a negotiation? Maybe then Simmons wouldn't refuse to show up because he thought Morey was sincerely trying to find another place for him. Also, Morey should be able to emotionally separate what Simmons is from the contract... this seems like a rookie GM that refuses to accept the hand he has been dealt. I left off the second part of the referenced post because it said Morey's flaw was not recognizing character was a factor with players. I think he just doesn't see the psychological impact of uncertainty and stress the business side of the game can impart on the on-court performance of the team.
Agreed. Maybe I was a bit too specific about character. I think Morey often neglected the so-called "human factor" in his evaluation of players.
He always said he doesnt care about fit and chemistry he just wants talent and its up to players to figure it all out. I guess thats why his teams are always a mess.
Nah, its Morey's own fault for waiting too long and asking too high a price. Why blame Rich Paul? Morey had the chance to trade Simmons before season started. Then he had the chance to beat Nets offer for Harden, sat around waiting for a call instead of busting his ass making offers to the Rox. The he spent all of predraft making dumbass trade offers for Simmons. I mean seriously after a year Simmons had you have the GALL to ask for Wiggins, Wiseman, 7, 14 AND 2 Frps? Are you trading Giannis or Ben Simmons? Thats like a waste of time and an insult to other GMs thats why they leaked these demands cuz its so dumb. Should've taken Pacers lotto pick and Brogdon for Simmons.
James Harden and Ben Simmons are not even in the same planet system as far as trade value. Asking for a Harden-like package is so delusional it's like a proposal from a wild poster on a message board, not from a league GM
The 76ers brought this upon themselves. The 76ers Ownership should've kept Sam Hinkie in the beginning, he would've drafted better players to compliment Joel Embiid. Maybe 76ers would've drafted a better player than Ben Simmons. The pressure from Stephen A Smith to fire Sam Hinkie everyday on First Take. During the 76ers Lottery requires tons of patience. ESPN is all about ratings and Stephen putting pressure and calling for a Firing Sam Hinkie was the wrong decision.
One of my favorite pieces of advice I heard about 20 years ago... "Never show your a**." It has served me well. I think Morey is violating a basic principal of working with other people here.
