NBA Trade Rumors: The 3 frontrunners to trade for Ben Simmons

Ben Simmons has been sitting idly by all season as the Philadelphia 76ers carry on with their lives. He has no interest in playing for the team, and Daryl Morey has no interest in trading him away for little to no value.

It’s a tough spot to be in for both sides, as the 76ers could use more help and Ben Simmons could use a new environment to play in. As of now, though, everything seems to be moving in slow motion.

There has been no shortage of NBA trade rumors regarding where Simmons could end up, but new information from ESPN’s Brian Windhorst has seemingly narrowed down that list to three teams.

Recent NBA trade rumors have narrowed down the list of Ben Simmons trade destinations to just three teams

He believes the race to trade for Ben Simmons is between three teams – the Sacramento Kings, the Minnesota Timberwolves, and the Houston Rockets.

"“There’ve been a number of rumors that’ve gone around the league in the last few weeks about Ben Simmons trades involving the Morey quadrangular… the Philadelphia 76ers, Daryl Morey, general manager, president, whatever his title is; Minnesota Timberwolves, who are run now by Sachin Gupta, who worked for Daryl Morey; the Kings, who are run by Monte McNair, who worked for Daryl Morey; and the Rockets, who are run by Rafael Stone – while there’s some scar tissue there – who worked for Daryl Morey.”"

Each and every one of these teams are run by someone who has some sort of relationship with Daryl Morey, the general manager of the Philadelphia 76ers.

If he were to pull off a trade for Simmons, it would probably be in his best interest to deal with someone he’s comfortable with if he wants to get the best possible return.

The Sacramento Kings, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Houston Rockets are involved in the latest NBA trade rumors surrounding Ben Simmons

The Kings would probably give up a package of Marvin Bagley and one of Buddy Hield or Harrison Barnes. However, in Morey’s ideal world, he would be able to snag either De’Aaron Fox or Tyrese Haliburton from Sacramento.

Minnesota has D’Angelo Russell to offer, but they’d much rather try to keep Russell in favor of trading away Malik Beasley. Morey probably doesn’t like that deal too much, though.

Lastly, the Rockets have an aging John Wall as a bargaining chip, as well as Eric Gordon. That’s probably the weakest of all three potential NBA trades.

It’s only a matter of time before the 76ers finally decide to deal Simmons. What sort of NBA trades could come into play to help the former All-Star return to the court?