Official preparations for the 2021-22 season begin in less than a week, and Ben Simmons seems no closer to moving on from the Philadelphia 76ers despite his best efforts to force a trade. The disgruntled three-time All-Star, in fact, reportedly has no plans to budge from his longtime stance of refusing to report to his incumbent team when Doc Rivers, Joel Embiid and company open training camp in the City of Brotherly Love on September 28.
ESPN Sources: Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons will not report for opening of training camp next week and intends to never play another game for the franchise. Simmons hasn’t spoken to team since a late August meeting when he communicated this message to Sixers officials.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) September 21, 2021
Maybe Daryl Morey anticipated Simmons continuing to dig in his heels. After all, the complete lack of recent communication between player and team doesn't exactly portend a mending of fences before the regular season tips off in just over three weeks. Simmons has made it abundantly clear he has no interest in buttressing his trade value by playing good soldier, even if doing so would hasten his departure from Philadelphia.
Unfortunately for Simmons, the Sixers still appear in no rush, either. A team source even cast doubt on the possibility of Philadelphia trading Simmons for young players and draft assets now, then flipping that package down the line for the superstar perimeter sidekick Embiid needs to legitimately compete at the top of the Eastern Conference.
“There are a few deals you could say, we do this, and we'll gamble that sometime later, we'll take draft picks and turn it back into having [a title] chance,” a Sixers staffer told Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice. “But why do that?…there's no reason to go get draft picks right now because you could just do it all at once. Why take the risk that you do that and you can't flip back out of it? It makes no sense with Joel in his prime.”
Morey's dream final outcome of the Simmons saga, of course, is bringing Damian Lillard to Philadelphia. But the longer this situation drags on the more untenable it becomes, meaning there still exists a world in which the Sixers settle for another bucket-getting guard who's played his entire career with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Here's what the current state of the Simmons affair means for Lillard and C.J. McCollum.
Holding Out Hope for Damian Lillard
The notion that Philadelphia would be comfortable holding onto Simmons until Lillard potentially becomes available isn't surprising. No front office decision-maker believes in star power more than Morey, and all indications from the summer were the Sixers wouldn't deal Simmons without knowing for absolute certain that Lillard was committed to Portland long-term.
That calculus hasn't changed despite Lillard's apparent satisfaction with 2021-22 in Rip City. At least one person tuned into Lillard's thinking believes there's still a chance he requests a trade from the Blazers before 2021-22 is finished, according to Philly Voice.
“A source with knowledge of the situation believes Lillard is held back by both his loyalty to Portland and an unwillingness to go back on things he's already said about sticking things out. He ultimately decided to give this another go, and Lillard has been provided roster upgrades and had a big voice in the coaching search. He may still ask out down the road, but only time will tell how long this honeymoon lasts.”
Most if not all reported and on-the-record momentum suggests Lillard will be playing in Portland until next summer. But the Blazers' prospects of surprising in the Western Conference—during the regular season, at least—aren't fool-proof, especially if the injury bug bites in Portland to the extent it did a year ago.
For now, until the regular season begins and he gets a better sense of the Blazers' direction under Chauncey Billups, Lillard's status remains unchanged—with respect to both his future in Portland and Philadelphia's steadfast desire to acquire him.
Settling for C.J. McCollum?
One tidbit from Neubeck's reporting in Philly Voice on the Simmons situation sticks out from all the others. Even though the Sixers obviously remain hopeful of trading Simmons for an All-NBA type playmaker, the fraught nature of this ongoing stalemate seems to have partially opened the door for Philly to make a more “lateral move.”
“[The Sixers are] also open to moves that don't necessarily move them closer to a title right away so long as their chances to win a championship remain similar,” Neubeck writes.
Would swapping Ben Simmons for McCollum, a young player like Anfernee Simons or Nassir Little and a protected future first-round pick be enough if the Sixers grow tired of waiting for the likes of Lillard, Bradley Beal or Zach LaVine to ask out?
Considering McCollum's proven scoring chops and the long-vacant role he'd fill as Philadelphia's perimeter closer, it's not outlandish to submit the Sixers' title odds would slightly improve with him in Simmons' place. Embiid is an imminent injury risk, and at 27, already in the thick of a prime that could be shorter-lived than anyone wants to admit. The Sixers need to win now.
But the Blazers do, too, and Lillard's apparent readiness to play the full season in Portland before revisiting his future next summer could make president of basketball operations Neil Olshey even more hesitant to trade McCollum than his personal preference. Simmons is a far more dynamic player than Larry Nance Jr., but the Blazers' trade for the latter a few weeks back would leave their roster too tilted toward the interior if they dealt McCollum for Simmons.
There's a case to be made that Portland's current status quo is the better option. If a title is really the goal, though, getting a player of Simmons' talent in exchange for a package centered around McCollum would be an opportunity the Blazers can't pass up.
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