As the NBA nears the start of the 2021-22 season, tensions continue to simmer between All-Star Ben Simmons and his current team, the Sixers. Philadelphia is hoping to deal Simmons for win-now assets, while Simmons, despite having four years left on his current contract, has threatened to not report for training camp and beyond if he is not moved. The more the two sides’ stalemate drags on, the better the Timberwolves‘ odds are of swooping in to steal the former No. 1 lottery pick, posits Michael Rand of the Star Tribune.
Rand wonders if adding Simmons could be the move Minnesota needs to return to the playoffs for the first time since the team’s lone full Jimmy Butler season, 2017-18. Rand thinks the Timberwolves should be ready to offer anyone not named Anthony Edwards or Karl-Anthony Towns in exchange for Simmons.
A year ago, the Sixers would most likely have even balked at an offer for Edwards or Towns, but that has changed now as Simmons’ value has declined following a disastrous postseason performance on offense. Simmons, a great defender and passer, could be an ideal fit for a hyper-athletic wing like Edwards and a jump-shooting center like Towns.
There’s more out of the Northwest Division:
- The Timberwolves managed to remain under the luxury tax this summer while retaining Jarred Vanderbilt and Jordan McLaughlin, two promising young players on affordable three-year contracts, writes Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic.
- The Nuggets have revealed the assistant coaches slated to join their new G League team, the Grand Rapids Gold, per a team press release. Head coach Jason Terry, a former Sixth Man of the Year and champ with the Mavericks, will be joined on the bench by assistant coaches Travess Armenta (most recently a Nuggets player development coach and video department member), former Mississippi State assistant coach Tamisha Augustin, former Wizards assistant coach Jim Lynam Jr. and former Hawks assistant Nathan Babcock. This marks the first coaching gig for Terry, a 19-year NBA veteran.
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In case you missed it, free-agent power forward Patrick Patterson has agreed to a training-camp deal with the Trail Blazers.
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