Sixers: 3 possible Ben Simmons trades with Pistons

Sixers: Possible Ben Simmons trade with Pistons No. 2

Sixers also receive: 2024 first-round pick swap, 2026 first-round pick (top-5 protected), 2028 first-round pick (top-5 protected) 

The Pistons’ cap sheet is tricky to navigate. There aren’t a ton of contracts big enough to easily match Simmons’ $33 million (Grant is the team’s leading earner at $20 million), but due to the leftover $29.8 million on Blake Griffin’s old contract, they are still operating above the cap.

That said, the Sixers will pretty much have to acquire Grant in any Pistons trade. That’s fine. He’s a borderline All-Star talent with real equity as a defensive backbone. Next to Joel Embiid and Matisse Thybulle, he would help Philadelphia maintain elite status on that end of the floor.

Instead of dipping further into Detroit’s young core, however, this scenario has the Sixers acquiring Kelly Olynyk. Given the restrictions on recently signed contracts, this trade could not happen until November. It appears quite possible (maybe even likely) that the Simmons situation will drag out that long.

It’s easy to roll one’s eyes at Olynyk as a core piece of a Simmons return, but he’s a vastly underrated player. In 27 games with Houston last season, the former Gonzaga star averaged 19.0 points, 8.4 rebounds, and 4.1 assists while shooting .545/.392/.844 from the field. Those numbers are hardly sustainable, and Olynyk would have a much smaller role in Philadelphia than in Houston, but he’s a productive, versatile frontcourt player who could play next to and behind Embiid.

With no young talent coming back, the Sixers get more draft capital to sweeten the pot. This trade is fair value both ways, but with Simmons’ reputation in the tank and the Sixers’ leverage slipping away by the minute, it’s easy to wonder if Detroit would actually have to include two premium first-round picks and a swap. That’s a fair qualm, if only circumstantially.