"We are not trading Ben Simmons — he is an important part of our future."
That is the response of Philadelphia 76ers' president Daryl Morey minutes after Shams Charania reported on Thursday night that the Sixers made Simmons available in a potential James Harden trade.
Do we believe Morey? Hard to say.
The rumors continue to trickle out suggesting a) that the Sixers are front-runner to land Harden and b) Simmons' name continues to pop up. You know what they say, where there's smoke, there's fire.
Simmons is, by far, the best asset Houston could net for Harden—who is reportedly unhappy with the Rockets.
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Harden, 31, is an eight-time all-star, six-time All-NBA first teamer, and 2018 Most Valuable Player. Harden is set to make over $40 million in each of the next two seasons before a 2022-23 player option for $47.3 million kicks in.
Simmons, 24, is a two-time all-star, rookie of the year winner, all NBA-third teamer, 2020 steals leader, all-NBA first team defensive player, and former No. 1 overall pick. He is under contract through 2024-25 set to make $30.5, $33, $35.5, $37.9, and $40.3 million in each of the next five seasons, respectively.
Morey—who of course acquired Harden in a blockbuster trade while he was running the Houston Rockets' front office—has talked this offseason about his desire to keep both Joel Embiid and Simmons, extensively.
On November 24th, Morey told 94WIP's Jon Marks & Ike Reese that he believes the Sixers are title contenders.
"Yeah, I do think this is a team that can contend," Morey said. "I like that, teams are—feels like we're coming from the underdog part of it. You don't have to go back about one year—towards the end of the season the Sixers were forecasted to be right there with Milwaukee in the East and everyone obviously did not play quite as well as that. I prefer to be in this spot, where everyone thinks we're like the sixth best team in the East and we'll shock people. So, I'm excited for that."
The Sixers added Seth Curry, Danny Green, and rookie Tyrese Maxey this offseason as their key contributors, replacing Al Horford and Josh Richardson.