Philadephia 76ers are demanding an 'All-Star calibre player' in return for the Australian point guard, who turns 25 next week and has four years and $147 million remaining on his max contract
Tuesday 13 July 2021 17:08, UK
The Philadelphia 76ers have opened up trade conversations for point guard Ben Simmons, The Athletic reported on Tuesday.
Teams that have already engaged with the Sixers have been met with a "high price threshold" for the three-time All-Star, according to the report.
"(The 76ers) want an All-Star-calibre player in return," a source told The Athletic.
Simmons, who turns 25 next week, is on the trade block following a poor performance in the playoffs as the top-seeded Sixers lost to the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semi-finals in seven games.
Despite this, Shams Charania reiterates that leaguewide interest in the player remains "robust" due to his accomplishments in the league, such as finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting this season.
He was just 15 of 45 (33.3 percent) from the free-throw line in the seven-game series and he attempted just 14 shots from the field over the final three games.
Simmons also attempted only one shot in the fourth quarter in the final six games of the series - a total of 43 minutes played - and passed up a certain game-tying lay-up with 3:30 left in the fourth quarter of the Game 7 loss.
The 24-year-old took responsibility for the defeat, admitting afterwards: "Offensively, I wasn't there. I didn't do enough for my team-mates. There's a lot of things that I need to work on."
However, the Sixers head coach Doc Rivers did not appear to give his player any kind of immediate backing when asked in the aftermath if Philadelphia could win a championship with Simmons at point guard.
"I don't know that question or the answer to that right now," Rivers said. "So I don't know the answer to that."
His fellow star Joel Embiid also appeared to add fuel to the fire, citing Simmons' lay-up opportunity as the turning point in the game.
"Man, I will be honest. I thought the turning point was, you know, when we, I don't know how to say it, but I thought the turning point was just we had an open shot and we made one free throw and we missed the other and they came down and scored," the center said.
Simmons' 2020-21 averages of 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists were all the lowest marks of his four NBA seasons. He did make his third straight All-Star team and finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting to Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.
The No 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and the 2017-18 NBA Rookie of the Year, Simmons has four years and $147 million remaining on his contract.
The 6ft 11in Simmons announced last month that he would not compete for Australia - who handed Team USA a second consecutive loss on Monday - at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, citing a need to spend time focusing on his individual skill development.
