The Philadelphia 76ers are still actively shopping Ben Simmons as it was recently rumored by Shams Charania of The Athletic. However, nothing substantial has developed on that front at this point.
With that in mind, I had some free time to develop my own massive four-team trade that tries to get the Sixers most they can in a return for Simmons without getting a bonafide superstar. With that being written, let’s jump into what it would be.
Philadelphia 76ers massive four-team trade involving Simmons.
The four teams in this deal are the 76ers, Indiana Pacers, Portland Trail Blazers, and Toronto Raptors. Below is the potential deal between all four clubs.
- 76ers get: SG CJ McCollum, PG Malcolm Brogdon, 2026 lotter protected first round pick, via Indiana, and 2027 second round pick, via Toronto.
- Pacers get: G/F Ben Simmons, PG Goran Dragic, C Khem Birch, and 2023 second round, via Portland.
- Trail Blazers get: C Domantas Sabonis, G/F Danny Green, and PG/SG Shake Milton.
- Raptors: C Jusuf Nurkic and G/F Jeremy Lamb.
Let’s start with what Philly gets in this hypothetical deal. They receive CJ McCollum, Malcolm Brogdon, a 2026 lottery protected first round pick, and a 2027 second round pick. Both McCollum and Brogdon are All-Star level talents at the guard positions even though they don’t have that accolade on their resumes as of yet. The draft compensation isn’t great, considering what the other teams are giving up it actually pretty generous.
Indiana gets their franchise guy in Ben Simmons. They also get a great secondary playmaker in Goran Dragic and a solid backup center in Khem Birch. Birch is going to help offset the loss of Domantas Sabonis and without Sabonis, the floor is going to be wide open for Simmons to operate. Simmons can operate in a similar way that Giannis Antentokounmpo does on the Milwaukee Bucks. Getting a 2022 second round isn’t a bad result either.
The Blazers move on from the backcourt of McCollum and Damian Lillard. They replace McCollum with an All-Star center in Sabonis. Side note, Domantas Sabonis’ father, Arvydas Sabonis, stared for Portland in the late 1990s and early 2000s. They also get two quality role players in Danny Green and Shake Milton too to help sure up depth at both guard positions.
The Raptors also come away as winners in this deal. They offload Goran Dragic and Birch for Jusuf Nurkic and Jeremy Lamb. Both Nurkic and Lamb are in their primes so they fit the timeline of the Raptors’ core of players. Nurkic can be their center of the future as since the departure of Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka has left the franchise empty at the position.
This isn’t a perfect four-team trade, but the Philadelphia 76ers gett pretty good compensation for Simmons in this hypothetical deal.