The Philadelphia 76ers have been involved in a lot of drama as they continue to try and move Ben Simmons in order to move on from what has turned into a toxic situation around the 25-year old.
Philadelphia is still holding out hope that Simmons does show up and report to the team, but that seems unlikely at this stage of the process. He did not show up tp training camp and he has missed two preseason games thus far. He also has moved out of his house in the city as he continues to wait for a trade.
There was one idea thrown out there by Stephen A. Smith that the Sixers were looking to move Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets in order to acquire Kyrie Irving. The Nets All-Star is a guy who has cold water plumbing at crunch time and he is a guy who is not afraid of any shot or moment and he would be a nice fit next to Joel Embiid basketball-wise.
However, per Marc Stein, the Sixers never seriously considered a Simmons for Irving swap:
There is no indication that the Philadelphia 76ers have interest in exploring a potential Ben Simmons for Kyrie Irving trade with the Brooklyn Nets.
Irving is currently not allowed to play home games for the Nets due to his vaccination status. There is some belief around the league that Irving would retire, or at least seriously consider it, if the Nets traded him.
Irving can also be a free agent in 2022.
The 76ers continue to explore a trade of Simmons while he remains away from the team.
The idea of trading for Irving is nice in terms of his basketball ability as he is one of the more entertaining scorers in the league. However, he is very volatile off the floor and one never knows when he might step away from the team for any particular reason. At this point, availability is a big issue for the 2016 NBA champion and the Sixers do not need to be wrapped up in any more potential drama.
This Simmons situation is not going to end pretty at this point, that is obvious, but the Sixers also need to get the right pieces for him. Whether that be an All-Star or a borderline one, president Daryl Morey needs to figure out what the next steps are in this situation and he needs to do it quickly.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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