The Philadelphia 76ers are getting set to begin training camp for the 2021-22 season on Sept. 28 and there promises to be some drama to begin the camp. They still have some issues that need to be addressed and that is going to cast a pall on the organization.
That issue is the status of Ben Simmons as the Sixers continue to try and figure out what to do with their embattled 25-year old All-Star. The Sixers have been taking trade calls on Simmons since they were bounced in Game 7 in Round 2 and now, as training camp approaches, Simmons has requested a trade and threatened with a holdout of camp.
The Sixers now expect Simmons to show up to camp at some point, but one can expect that Philadelphia will move him at some point.
A new trade suggestion from Bleacher Report has the Sixers moving Simmons to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Cam Reddish, Kevin Huerter, and Danilo Gallinari. Please keep in mind that this trade scenario is contingent on another B/R trade suggestion of Tobias Harris to the Portland Trail Blazers for C.J. McCollum.
B/R on this Simmons deal:
Assuming the Sixers pull off the CJ McCollum-Tobias Harris swap, they still need to figure out a new home for Simmons.
For Philly, they get a replacement for Harris at power forward in Gallinari, who’s still one of the best floor-spacing big men in the NBA. Huerter is a 6’7″ shooting guard who can handle the ball and Reddish still carries incredible upside on both ends.
The Sixers would carry a starting five of McCollum, Seth Curry, Danny Green, Gallinari and Embiid to begin the season, with a bench of Huerter, Reddish, Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle and Andre Drummond.
Not only is Philly set up to win right away, there’s still enough young talent on the roster to make a run at Damian Lillard or any other star who may pop up on the trade market during the year.
This would be one of the more interesting trade scenarios regarding Simmons especially considering the fact that the Hawks just bounced the Sixers in the playoffs. The trade itself is solid, but it does sound a little bit too far-fetched as even the Harris for McCollum trade suggestion seems unlikely.
The most likely scenario at this point is Philadelphia trying to mend the fences with Simmons just a little bit and see if they can try again in December to make a deal. At that point, there will be more players available to trade for and it will give president Daryl Morey some more optionality in those trade talks.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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