The good news for the Philadelphia 76ers is that Ben Simmons is changing his mentality for the better. With that being written the Sixers front office shouldn’t be ready to take Simmons off the trade market.
It should be made clear, that the 76ers’ president of basketball operation Daryl Morey has made it known he isn’t going to trade Simmons unless he gets a “difference-maker”, per 975TheFanatic. That seems to indicate that a player like Damian Lillard or Bradley Beal, would be the type of player Morey has in mind.
There are two superstars that the Sixers need to keep their eyes on for a potential Simmons trade.
As of now, it appears guys like Beal and Lillard are off the table, but they aren’t the only difference-maker players that might become available this season. Both Donovan Mitchell and Zach LaVine are two stars who could ask to be moved during this season if their situations go south.
Let’s start with LaVine, who isn’t a completely unfamiliar name to have in the same conversation with Simmons. LaVine is in the last year of his contract and the Chicago Bulls have made their “Hail Mary” moves to try to be a playoff team moving forward.
They added Nikola Vucevic last season who is an All-Star center. During the offseason, they added former All-Star DeMar DeRozan, who is still an All-Star level player. They also added great role players in Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.
These moves are greats and they have started 2-0 as a result. That being written, if they begin to falter, then he could ask to be traded. The Bulls don’t want to lose him in free agency and if his intentions about returning to the team become unclear, then Chicago could try to move him.
Then there’s Mitchell who is the offensive star of the Utah Jazz. They’ve seen a long run of success in his young career and he has the three time Defensive Player of the Year in Rudy Gobert as his running mate. It’s fair to question why to have Mitchell in this article.
Jazz fans need to blame Bill Simmons of The Ringer for this take. On ESPN’s Zach Lowe’s podcast The Lowe Post, Bill Simmons suggested that if the Jazz start out slow, everyone player except Mitchell could be on the trade block. Here’s my take, if the Jazz starts out slow, Mitchell could ask for a trade.
To be clear, Mitchell is in the first year of a five-year contract, so it would be hard for him to force a trade, he should just look at what Ben Simmons has experienced. The Jazz are also 2-0 so not a slow start so far. However, in a world that Gobert gets traded for a big that can stretch the floor, then swapping Simmons for Mitchell isn’t such a bad idea for the Jazz.
To be clear, it’s unlikely that either LaVine and/or Mitchell will become available, but if they do, the Sixers should offer Simmons in a second.