The Philadelphia 76ers have been playing good basketball as of late as they have begun to climb the standings with their recent hot streak. Joel Embiid has been playing MVP-caliber basketball and they have gotten contributions from up and down their lineup.
However, the main story that continues to be at the forefront of this team is the ongoing Ben Simmons saga.
The Sixers and Simmons still continue to have this dance as they are stuck in a stalemate that doesn’t look like it will end any time soon. Simmons still has zero expectations of rejoining the team and the Sixers want a top 25 player in any deal for him. It doesn’t look like Philadelphia will get that type of deal before the Feb. 10 deadline.
With that in mind, the other option the Sixers can look to is the offseason when a sign-and-trade possibility for Brooklyn Nets star James Harden is in play. Philadelphia tried to trade for Harden while he was with the Houston Rockets so it makes sense as to why the Sixers would try and go for it again.
Per NBA veteran reporter Marc Stein via his substack, rival teams believe the Sixers will do just that when it comes to anything Simmons related:
Perhaps he has also been sold on a concept that executives with a growing number of rival teams say they see as Morey’s new preferred scenario: Keeping Simmons beyond the trade deadline to exhaust every last possibility for executing a complicated sign-and-trade in the offseason that finally brings James Harden to Philadelphia and routes Simmons to Brooklyn.
With Embiid on board that the team has everything they need and there is no urgency to make any changes, Morey and company would rather prefer to wait it out and see if they can swing for the fences for Harden.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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