Pass or Pursue?

Obviously, the first team the 76ers are going to try and talk at length with in a potential Ben Simmons trade is the Portland Trail Blazers since they have Damian Lillard, but if Philadelphia is unable to land Dame, Brandon Ingram is not that bad of a player for them to pursue.

He can score on the perimeter or in the low-post and is constantly getting better as a defender, but does adding Ingram make the 76ers that much better of a team? 

He is the only real asset they would get back in thai trade scenario, other than a future first-round pick, but adding Ingram to this roster really may not make the 76ers better than they were with Ben Simmons.

Given how great he is defensively and all the little things Simmons can do to impact a game, the 3x All-Star really has been a valuable player in Philly’s system, regardless if he passes up on a layup in the playoffs or not. 

Losing in the postseason, especially as the 1-seed, is never fun, but making a negative franchise-altering decision is never fun either. Philadelphia went through a lot of turnover and losing in order to get guys like Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons, so if they are going to trade Simmons, they are going to have to try and get a franchise-altering player like Lillard back. 

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Brandon Ingram still has potential to grow and maybe he is a better player than a trade package that would be centered around C.J. McCollum even from Portland, but overall, it is hard to imagine Ingram fitting in with Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid. Philly’s championship window is small and the return in this trade really does not outweigh what they are trading away. 

Verdict: Pass