Timberwolves remain interested in acquiring Sixers star Ben Simmons

The Minnesota Timberwolves remain the most interested team in acquiring Ben Simmons from the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Philadelphia 76ers are set to begin training camp for the 2021-22 season in about a month as they get set to continue with their title chase. They have a franchise superstar big man in the form of Joel Embiid, but whether he will be joined by a certain All-Star remains to be seen.

Ever since the Sixers were bounced by the Atlanta Hawks in Round 2 of the playoffs, Ben Simmons has been involved in every trade rumor and every trade scenario to be thought of. It does appear that after another playoff run that exposed the same familiar issues, that the franchise and the 3-time All-Star are headed towards a divorce.

The Athletic and The Stadium’s Shams Charania gave an update on Simmons and he mentioned that the Minnesota Timberwolves remain the most interested team in acquiring Simmons:

Both sides want the same thing which is a trade of Ben Simmons out of Philadelphia…The Sixers started conversations a few weeks before the draft with teams on trying to figure out which offer might be the best. I think they made some headway with some teams but at the end of the day, they don’t have a deal done. I’m told they’re continuing to talk to teams, Minnesota is one of the most interested teams in Ben Simmons, but a package with them would require a third team and those deals aren’t easy so what I would expect is a climax to this situation to occur closer to the start of training camp because that’s when there’s going to be pressure. Are you going to want to bring Ben Simmons into training camp? Are you gonna want to try to get something done before camp starts? I think that’s really where we’re gonna see all this stuff start to climax.

There has been a report that Simmons will sit training camp in order to get a trade done and while those reports seemed like a reach at the time, this update from Charania adds some truth to those thoughts. Simmons is obviously one of the more talented players in the league, but his shortcomings on offense continue to be something that holds both him and the Sixers back a bit in the playoffs.

At this point, it might be best if both sides seek a change of scenery. Philadelphia could use more shot creation from the perimeter while Simmons could probably use an opportunity to start anew elsewhere.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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