Philadelphia 76ers: 5 teams that could trade for Ben Simmons

The Philadelphia 76ers aren’t supposed to be exploring trades for Ben Simmons. He is 24 years old, a three-time All-Star and two-time All-Defensive First-Team selection. He was a major factor in the 76ers finishing with the Eastern Conference’s best record this past season.

He was also a major factor in their seven-game loss to the Atlanta Hawks, a talented but inexperienced team the 76ers should have rolled over. Simmons should have been torching the Hawks in transition, directing the offense in the half-court and shutting down every action the Hawks tried to run defensively.

The Philadelphia 76ers have to consider trades for Ben Simmons. Which teams could put together a package for the polarizing young player?

Instead, the 76ers have gone home, the Hawks have advanced, and every media outlet that covers basketball is showing replays of Simmons passing up an open dunk to pass to a teammate in traffic. It was the latest example of a player so traumatized by his inability to shoot free throws (25 for 73 in the postseason and a frequent victim of intentional fouling) that he passed up shooting altogether.

The 76ers are at a crossroads. Their other star player, Joel Embiid, just finished second in MVP voting and was dominant in the playoffs despite playing on a torn meniscus against the Hawks. Embiid is one of the league’s best post players, but it means he needs to be surrounded by shooting. Simmons’ many other gifts helped the two coexist for a time, but ultimately if he won’t shoot (can’t, won’t, however it slices) Philadelphia cannot win a title with this pairing.

Can the 76ers trade Simmons, even as the distressed asset he currently is after a terrible postseason, and get back enough value? Perhaps not, and the 76ers could try to hang tight and recoup his value before next season’s trade deadline. If they don’t and want to make a move now, what other teams might play ball?

Teams that won’t trade for Ben Simmons

There are a number of teams that are immediately out of the running to trade for Simmons. The first are those teams offering pennies on the dollar; the Houston Rockets aren’t trading John Wall for Ben Simmons. For all of his shooting problems, he was the Defensive Player of the Year runner-up this season, averaged 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists, and was a strongly positive player according to advanced metrics.

At the other end of the spectrum, the difficulties in building a team around Simmons mean he won’t command top dollar. The Portland Trail Blazers aren’t crafting a Damian Lillard trade package around Simmons; the Washington Wizards aren’t sending Bradley Beal so that they can pair Simmons and Russell Westbrook.

Some teams are too early in their rebuild; the Orlando Magic and OKC Thunder want time to draft and develop young players, and paying Simmons the max doesn’t fit their timetable. A few others have a team build that would fit terribly with Simmons; the Miami Heat or Memphis Grizzlies come to mind. Finally, the 76ers aren’t likely to trade him to a fellow Eastern Conference contender like the Milwaukee Bucks or Brooklyn Nets even if they were so inclined.

With that being said, there are at least a handful of candidates with reasonable trade packages to send. Philadelphia would be selling low, but not egregiously so, and perhaps the better fits they can engineer would be worth it. Let’s start with the most popular “fake trade” tossed around, with the 76ers and the Trail Blazers both making a change after disappointing ends to their postseasons.