Philadelphia 76ers Reddit Rumors: Simmons First, Then Jamal Murray?

Some rumors are coming out about the Philadelphia 76ers draft strategy on Reddit, but we should be careful to trust them.

It’s that time of year, everyone. Time for the Philadelphia 76ers NBA Draft rumors to start rolling in. Some of the rumors come with more legitimacy, and others come with a bit of reason to question. A recent fan-created rumor says that Ben Simmons is a lock for the Sixers with the top overall pick, and that the team will try to trade Jahlil Okafor or Nerlens Noel for a pick that will land them Jamal Murray.

The rumor was posted on the Sixers subreddit, and the original transcription is below:

"Look I don’t want to get banned for something like this, but my coworker just told me a legit rumor. He’s NEVER sent me anything like this before. Basically he knows someone who is friends/acquaintances with Bryan. He told me how they know each other, but didn’t want me to post that info. Either way, the 2 things he knows is Simmons is 100% the pick & they are going to do their very best to trade Okafor/Noel for Jamal Murray (wherever he ends up being picked). Also based on the convo he thinks they prefer to actually trade Noel surprisingly.Personally I’ve preferred Kris Dunn if we get a 2nd pick, but Jamal Murray has been killing it in workouts, and he fits the mold of current NBA players better than Dunn.Listen if a post like this is against the rules please just delete it. I swear to god I have no reason to just BS something like this. It isn’t like it is a huge out of left field rumors which is why I actually believe my friend’s source."

First of all, let me be clear — this is not an official rumor from any confirmed reporter or inside source. In fact, the username of the person who posted this is “throwawayman88,” and throw away accounts are typically used for satirical content. That being said, the account has been around for over a year and heavily used for basketball discussion.

Aside from that, there’s a lot to dissect here, so let’s get into it.

There’s a lot of moving parts here. Let’s start with the degrees of separation. The person who is relaying this information is one degree away from his “source” (his friend) and that friend is one degree away from another friend of Bryan Colangelo, allegedly. That makes the rest of us four degrees away from the original information in this scenario, which is one more than a usual report.

What makes this even more different, obviously, is that it’s relayed from “a friend.” That difference is actually quite important.

Think about discussion with a friend, any friend. Maybe you’re hanging out at a barbecue, at work, or even at home. Think about the discussions that you have with those friends. Some of them may be serious. But a vast majority are often out of humor, joking around, and just having a good time.

So, let’s assume that this friend is actually telling the truth, and no information was relayed incorrectly. Even if that’s true, it could have been that Bryan was talking to a friend about his job, maybe jokingly blowing off some steam.

“Yeah, we’re taking Simmons first, 100 percent! Oh, and we’re going to trade Okafor or Noel for Jamal Murray too! Ha! Give the reporters that, maybe they’ll stop talking about how my dad gave me my job!”

Obviously that’s not a real quote, but maybe that’s how it could have played out.

But that friend mentions that to another friend, and that friend tells his friend, and that friend puts it online. The details of how this “information” came to be (possibly as a joke) are completely lost.

That being said, this very well could be true. I think it’s accurate that Simmons is a lock for the top overall pick. Reporters such as Derek Bodner have said that every indication they have gotten is for Simmons to be a Sixer.

What is different, is the new information about the team wanting to trade for a pick that will land them Murray. In a way, it makes sense, but I’m leery to trade Okafor or Noel until we see what Embiid really is on the NBA floor.

The “report” also indicated that the team is leaning towards moving Noel, which does make sense given that he’s the only actual name that’s been brought up in recent rumors.

Next: How Should Sixers React to Teague's Injury?

Whatever you choose to believe, just remember that some rumors may not be rumors after all. Be careful who you trust, especially online!