Philadelphia 76ers GM Daryl Morey recently said he has no plans to trade Ben Simmons for James Harden, but that probably won’t stop the 24-year-old point guard’s name from popping up in trade rumors.
Simmons, meanwhile, insists that stuff doesn’t bother him.
“No,” he said on Tuesday, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “I come in every day, take it a day at a time, ready to work. I’m with my teammates. … Every day I wake up, every time I got a Sixers uniform on, I’m representing the Sixers. So, my mentality never changes.”
The Philadelphia Sixers, along with the Brooklyn Nets, are considered to be the two trade destinations that Harden prefers, but a trade for Harden won’t come cheap.
The Rockets have the three-time league scoring champion under contract for three more seasons and will likely require a large haul in exchange for the 31-year-old star.
In three seasons, Simmons has shown potential to be a rising star in the league – averaging 16.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8 assists per game -- although his lack of a 3-point shot has drawn harsh criticism at times.
“I’m here to win a championship,” Simmons added. “That goal is never gonna change. I know things are always going to be said in the media, and rumors and things like that, but my goal is to come in every day and get better and help the team that I’m on win a championship.”
Harden, on the other hand, is one of the best 3-point shooters in the game and could certainly enhance that aspect of the Sixers’ offense if he were to be traded to Philadelphia.
Morey was the one who dealt for Harden as GM of the Rockets and Simmons is likely the best asset that the team can give up for a player like Harden.
New head coach Doc Rivers, however, maintains the Sixers are “special” in the way they are currently constructed.
“I think we have to believe it. And you have to feel special to be special,” he said. “So, I don’t think I need to make a forecast, or anything like that. I do believe that, though. And … we have Ben Simmons on our basketball team. And we have Joel Embiid on our basketball team. And right now, teams that have two NBA All-Stars, and All-Defensive players, tend to fare well.
“So, I think we are special in that regard.”
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