The Philadelphia 76ers have "opened up" trade conversations surrounding Ben Simmons, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
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Charania reports that interest around the NBA in Simmons, who turns 25 in a week, remains strong and the Sixers are seeking an "All-Star caliber" player in return.
Here is Simmons' contract situation:
Age: 24 (turns 25 on July 20th)
Current contract: 5 years, $177.2M
Years remaining on deal: 4
Respective cap hits: $33M, $35.5M, $37.9M, $40.3M
There have been plenty of names mentioned in potential Simmons trades, with Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal as the biggest ones.
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"A lot of what I'm reading, I frankly don't understand when people say the Sixers are in a bad a situation," Sixers president Daryl Morey said on June 22nd. "I don't choose to come here, Doc doesn't choose to come here if this is a bad situation. Really 25, 26 teams would love to be in our situation with an MVP top caliber player [in Embiid], an all-star [in Simmons], a near all-star [in Harris], great young players who are signed for the long-term, good veterans. So we've got a good foundation, we just have to do better. I have to do better, everyone has to do better. That's the bottom line. That's the challenge. I can tell to everyone in Philadelphia that there's going to be a ton of effort up and down from myself, the front office, the coaching staff, and the players—who are being challenged as we speak in meetings with Doc Rivers on how they can get better as well."
Simmons, a three-time All-Star, has been one of the biggest stories in the NBA, but for all of the wrong reasons following the Sixers' second-round playoff exit to the Atlanta Hawks. Simmons became more reluctant to shoot game by game, struggled from the free-throw line mightily, and turned into a non-factor on offense in fourth quarters.
Simmons has reached three All-Star teams and has made back-to-back All-NBA first defensive teams, finishing runner-up in the defensive player of the year voting in 2021.
For his career, Simmons is averaging 15.9 points, 7.7 assists, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, 0.7 blocks, and 3.4 turnovers per game while shooting 56.0 FG% and 59.7 FT%.