The Philadelphia 76ers are trending in the right direction of late. They've won seven of their last eight games and have crept up in the Eastern Conference standings. Their pursuit of a Ben Simmons trade, however, is going the opposite direction.

From the latest report via ESPN insider Adrian Wojnarowski, the Sixers are actually growing the asking price on their disgruntled star rather than lowering it.

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The Sixers are targeting top 25-caliber players for trades, but those kinds of assets have yet to be made available to them in offers, sources said. Some teams have even described the Sixers' asking price for a Simmons' deal as growing in price — not declining, sources told ESPN.

Hard to imagine a player's value going up when the NBA hasn't seen him play a single minute this season. But if the report is accurate, that's exactly how Sixers GM Daryl Morey is trying to play it off. Based on his past trade history, it does fit his M.O. to do exactly that.

The Sixers are getting an MVP-caliber season from Joel Embiid and are playing well of late. But they still have some separation from the East elite. Getting decent return from the Ben Simmons trade that's been stewing for months could very well be enough to swing their season in the right direction.