The Ben Simmons sweepstakes hit their peak in the media this week, with ESPN’s NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski reporting that the controversial Australian star won’t report to training camp for the Philadelphia 76ers. Here are the latest Portland Trail Blazers rumors.
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
Woj details in his tweet and a follow-up article, that Simmons hasn’t spoken to the team since August, and doesn’t want to play for the team again.
With Golden State Warriors owner Joe Lacob coming out publicly and stating that he didn’t think Ben Simmons would be in the Warriors closing unit, that officially eliminated the Warriors from the trade race.
In the last 24 hours, controversial talking head Stephen A. Smith added his two cents, saying that sources had informed him of a potential Portland Trail Blazers package involving CJ McCollum, Robert Covington, and picks.
Stephen A clearly isn’t a reputable source for information around whether certain trades work under the league’s CBA rules, but he is likely to have league sources who have given him this info.
There have been multiple reports though that confirm this, from sources such as Woj, and ESPN’s Zach Lowe.
This package may be slightly inflated as a starting point, as Covington is worth one or two first-round picks on his own, so there is no way Neil Olshey sends multiple picks as per the report from Stephen A. The likely deal would be Covington and McCollum and a pick, and then the Sixers send one player back make the salaries match, and then even up the deal.
The 76ers now lack leverage in this situation, as they have to move Simmons. This means that other teams are likely to offer less, a good thing for the Blazers.
Whether teams think that Ben is worth it or not, it’s clear he is an all-world defender, and that he would significantly improve the Blazers defense. With training camp under a week away, there could be a move in these next seven days.