As the Philadelphia 76ers turn their attention to the regular season after wrapping up the preseason on Friday, they have one giant question to answer when it comes to their All-Star point guard.
Ben Simmons is back with the Sixers, but there is no sure answer whether Simmons is really “there,” meaning will he really give it his all.
Therefore, the Sixers have to decide whether he is here to play games for Philadelphia again or just there so he doesn’t get fined anymore as he awaits a trade. That is why trading Simmons is probably still the play for the organization.
In a new trade suggestion from Bleacher Report, it has the Sixers moving Simmons and Furkan Korkmaz to the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Malcolm Brogdon, T.J. Warren, and Chris Duarte.
B/R on the deal:
Brogdon checks every offensive box, doesn’t dominate the basketball, shoots it well enough to pull defenses away from Embiid and plays both ends of the court. A healthy Warren — he continues fighting the left foot injury that effectively erased his 2020-21 season—is a matchup nightmare and could form an interchangeable forward group with Tobias Harris. Duarte, a rookie, has the three-and-D chops to log big minutes right out of the gate.
The Sixers could improve in enough areas to finally make good on their championship potential, while the Pacers might view Simmons as the All-Star talent they typically don’t have access to.
The Sixers are not enamored with the idea of moving Simmons for pieces such as Brogdon, considering they have their eyes on bigger players such as Damian Lillard. Philadelphia has title hopes with Joel Embiid leading the way, so they want to trade Simmons for another All-Star talent to team with Embiid and get the job done.
It is clear this saga is not going to end any time soon, and the Sixers better buckle up because this is going to be a bumpy ride.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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