Trade season in the NBA is officially upon us with the Feb. 10 trade deadline right around the corner and the Philadelphia 76ers will definitely be in the middle of it all. They have a certain All-Star guard that is desperate to have a change of scenery.
When it comes to the Ben Simmons saga that has been ongoing since August, the Sixers have maintained that they will only move him for a top 25 player. The team’s No. 1 goal remains that they want to have him rejoin the team and move forward with him on the roster despite everything that has gone on.
While the Sixers might not get what they want for Simmons at the moment, they could have their eyes fixated on Brooklyn Nets star James Harden in the offseason. That is why they could be looking to move Tobias Harris as well in any deal to clear some money.
Per ESPN’s Brian Windhorst on his podcast “The Hoop Collective”, the Sixers are looking to move Harris in any potential Simmons deal:
That is the word out there, and because they can’t necessarily get an All-Star that they want in return right now that as the Sixers have continued their talks, they have talked to teams about trading Tobias and Ben. That’s $72 million so that means you would need $56 million to send out to make it happen…you’d have to trade a minimum of $56 million to trade for those two guys.
Tobias is not having a terrific season and I do think that’s partially because he doesn’t have Ben. They have made due with guys who are not really point guards. I know that Tyrese Maxey has had a good season and people are excited about him, but he’s not a true point guard. He’s putting up good numbers, but his shooting is down and he just hasn’t had the same impact…Tobias Harris is a good player. He’s on a contract that’s too high, probably, but he’s a good player. Why would they want to do that?
The reason they probably would want to move Harris is if they end up acquiring John Collins from the Atlanta Hawks as reported by The Athletic. Considering the fact that Collins and Harris play the same position, it does make sense as to why Philadelphia would want to move him.
Windhorst added:
If you’re trying to trade Tobias, it means you’ll probably be getting Collins in that deal.
Why would they be looking to offload Tobias?…One of their options is they want to make a run at James Harden next summer and Harden can opt out of his contract. He has elected not to extend, obviously there is the connection with Daryl Morey, they tried to get him last year. I don’t know whether he would leave the Nets. By the way, even if you offloaded those two guys, you’d still be taking back money. It wouldn’t necessarily mean that you could have enough money. I think James Harden’s number is like $48 million.
Some executives believe that one of the end games, not necessarily what is going to happen or what their preference is, some executives in the NBA believe that one of the end games for Ben Simmons is that he’s traded for James Harden in a sign-and-trade next summer.
There is a lot that the Sixers have to figure out when it comes to the Simmons situation. Will Harris be moved? Will they get the right value they want for Simmons? Can they truly go after Harden? There is a lot that will be said over the next couple of weeks heading into what promises to be a very busy trade deadline for Morey and GM Elton Brand.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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