Ben Simmons’ stock is definitely down from where it was even earlier this season. However, there’s a big difference between down and nonexistent.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Tuesday that Simmons would still receive significant interest if the Philadelphia 76ers made him available in trade talks. Windhorst said up to a dozen teams could be interested enough to make an offer.
Windhorst cautions that it’s “the quality of those offers” that would concern 76ers GM Daryl Morey, and that the team will have to be careful with its public statements to avoid further diminishing Simmons’ value in the eyes of other teams. After all, if the Sixers make clear they’re finished with him, they could harm their negotiating position.
Simmons is coming off a brutal postseason that left even his teammates throwing him under the bus. At the same time, he’s one of the best defensive players in the game and received third-team All-NBA honors as recently as last season. The Sixers would be selling low on him right now, so if they do move him, they’d really have to be done with him. On the other hand, it would make sense to do so if they fear his value getting even lower if they keep him.
