Sixers rumors: Hawks emerging as Ben Simmons trade suitor

In his weekly weekend column on Substack ($), NBA reporter Marc Stein unveiled a new team to monitor in the Ben Simmons trade market: the Atlanta Hawks. Please ignore the rampant cackling in the background, that’s a friend of mine and definitely not me reading this news.

On a more serious note, it does appear that Simmons will have plenty of suitors once the Feb. 10 trade deadline rolls around. The Sixers have expressed no urgency to trade the All-Star point forward, but with a season of Joel Embiid’s prime on the line, there has to be some underlying desire to get something done.

Atlanta joins the likes of Cleveland, Sacramento, and Minnesota, all of whom have established interest in Simmons. While the path to a trade is unclear, the Hawks have obvious reason to seek a second All-Star next to Trae Young. At 17-20, the Hawks are currently 12th in the East, which would leave them outside the playoffs entirely.

Will the Sixers and Hawks find common ground on a Ben Simmons trade package?

The main question with any trade rumor is how. How can the Hawks get Simmons, who makes $33 million a year and has three All-Star berths on his resumé? Trae Young is off the table, and no one else on the roster satisfies Daryl Morey’s reported desire for a comparable or superior All-Star talent.

That said, the Hawks do have a lot of intriguing pieces. That is a very deep and well-rounded team, with multiple young players and starting-caliber wings who could pique Philadelphia’s interest when aggregated together. The Hawks have been a prime candidate for a consolidation trade since last season, and Simmons is the type of star talent that could elevate the floor and ceiling of Trae Young’s team.

The most obvious starting point in this writer’s opinion is Clint Capela. Simmons and Capela don’t mesh offensively, so Atlanta could look for a third team to take on Capela and supply more trade ammo, moving John Collins to center in the process. From Philadelphia’s perspective, players like De’Andre Hunter, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kevin Huerter, and Cam Reddish all merit intrigue on some level.

There is probably some part of Morey that would prefer to trade Simmons to the west coast, if only to avoid direct competition in the playoffs. That said, is there a funnier or more ironic outcome than Atlanta trading for Simmons out of desperation after how last season ended for both franchises? The answer to that question, of course, is no.