As the Philadelphia 76ers move through the early part of the offseason after making a second-round exit for the third time in four seasons, the player most named in trade talks has been 24-year-old Ben Simmons, a three-time All-Star.
The Sixers have only two ways to improve this offseason: the draft and through trades. They do not have much money to play with in terms of free agency, so president Daryl Morey will have to get creative.
Simmons is his biggest asset at the moment and a trade suggestion by ESPN’s Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks suggested Simmons should go to the Minnesota Timberwolves for D’Angelo Russell and Malik Beasley.
This notion is being pushed a bit more by SKOR North’s Darren Wolfson who is reporting the Timberwolves badly want to trade for Simmons.
Both Russell and Beasley are legitimate 3-point shooters with Russell shooting it at 38.7% on 7.4 attempts and Beasley at 39.9% on 8.7 attempts so they are both volume shooters. Their fit around Embiid on the offensive end of the floor would be like a glove, and Russell is proven shot-creator from the perimeter.
The big issue is neither is a great defender and that would hurt Philadelphia’s play on that end of the floor.
A big example would be looking at the Utah Jazz who have an elite defender in Rudy Gobert. They surrounded him with guys who are not exactly great defenders at this stage in their respective careers.
That would put a lot of pressure on Joel Embiid on that end of the floor, but if Philadelphia can keep Matisse Thybulle out of the deal, that would be a big help on that end .
At the end of the day, the Sixers are not just going to trade Simmons just to trade him. Philadelphia will need to get a fair package in return for one of the league’s bright stars.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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