Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers have been engaged in a stalemate ever since last year’s playoffs.
Simmons underperformed in the second round against the Atlanta Hawks and was subsequently thrown under the bus by his teammates and coaches.
Understandably, he did not respond well to this. He demanded a trade immediately and pledged to not play another game for the Sixers. As a result of his refusal to play, the Sixers stopped paying him. This has led to him reportedly beginning to run out of cash. At the same time, the Sixers have rejected all trade offers for Simmons for not being good enough.
According to NBA insider Mo Mooncey, Simmons has two squads with whom he would prefer to land in any prospective trade: the Golden State Warriors or Dallas Mavericks.
“Per a source in Simmons camp: his preferred teams in the West are Dallas & GSW,” the report read. “He realizes GSW is highly unlikely and thinks Philly’s asking price is too steep. Fears the 76ers may not trade him at all.”
Both the Warriors and Mavericks have previously been linked to Simmons.
In the case of Golden State – Simmons has repeatedly suggested he would love to end up there. Unfortunately, talks between the Warriors and 76ers have gone rather poorly to date. So poorly, in fact, that at one point Golden State’s front office hung up the phone on Philly’s.
Stephen Curry has made his opinion on acquiring Simmons clear. Time will tell how much of a factor it will be in the grand scheme of things.
Similarly, there has been a lot of talk about Simmons landing in Dallas. In some ways it makes sense, in other ways not so much.
Regardless, the relationship between Simmons and the 76ers has deteriorated to such an incredible degree that it wouldn’t be shocking to see Philly actively avoid the two teams he actually prefers. It’s that bad.
There’s a reason why the current frontrunner to acquire Simmons isn’t in the most attractive of locales. Daryl Morey isn’t looking to send him to LA or South Beach.
At some point, a deal will need to get done. But at the moment, it’s unclear where Simmons will ultimately end up when that finally happens.
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