The Sixers appear to be, at the very least, listening to trade offers for Ben Simmons after an extremely disappointing showing in their playoff loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
In a recent article on The Athletic, NBA reporter Jason Lloyd cited a league executive that shutdown at least one possible Simmons trade that has been discussed:
I asked one executive from an opposing team if the Cavs could get the Sixers’ Ben Simmons for a package of (Kevin) Love and (Collin) Sexton. While the money matches, the response was “no chance; Philly can do better” despite Simmons’ deflated value.
The Sixers likely could do better than Sexton and Love, considering Love is on a big contract he isn’t playing up to and Sexton has been a bit of a disappointment.
Still, they could also do worse, considering Love would fit nicely next to Joel Embiid as a stretch power forward and Sexton did just average 24.1 points-per-game despite being only 22-years old.
A trade of Simmons for Love and Sexton would be a trade that would hinge on Sexton taking a big step forward immediately, considering the Sixers are in a win-now mode with Embiid as the center piece.
While the goal in any potential Simmons trade is obvious — get Damian Lillard — the reality is that Simmons’ value is at an all-time low and it might not be easy to trade him for even equal value right now.
The longer the Sixers wait, without an offer they really like coming in, a package around Sexton might start to look more-and-more appealing.