The Philadelphia 76ers have consistently found themselves mentioned in NBA trade rumors as a result of the ongoing saga with All-Star Ben Simmons. He still hasn’t been moved with less than a month until the trade deadline.
Teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers and now, most recently, the Atlanta Hawks, have been linked as a potential trade suitor for Simmons.
With the possibility of Damian Lillard getting shut down for the remainder of the 2021-22 season being alive and no available superstar talent in sight, perhaps the Sixers will have to make the most of what’s available to them.
There are other styles of trade returns for the Sixers to give some consideration it seems. One of them includes using Simmons as a vessel to clear additional salary cap space by involving larger deals.
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According to Brian Windhorst and Marc J. Spears of ESPN, the Philadelphia 76ers wanted to include Tobias Harris in recent trade discussions with the Atlanta Hawks when discussing a Ben Simmons deal.
“I’m hearing they want to include Tobias Harris,” said Spears, when reporting on the Sixers’ trade discussions with the Atlanta Hawks.
“Me too,” replied Windhorst.
“That is the word out there because they can’t necessarily get an All-Star they want in return right now, as the Sixers have continued their talks, they’ve talked to teams about trading Tobias and Ben.”
A potential complication with involving both Ben Simmons and Tobias Harris in the same trade package for some teams could be dependent on their view of Simmons’ position. If the thought from a team is that Simmons is a point forward, then they’d have to view Harris as a small forward or vice versa.
It remains unclear how motivated the Sixers would be to move Harris in a deal, in general, however. He currently is the team’s No. 2 option—taking needed pressure off Joel Embiid. While his 3-point percentage has been lower this season (29.5%), he’s been highly effective operating out of ball screens and when attacking out of the post and isolation, all of which could help a lot of teams.
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On the season, Tobias Harris is averaging 18.4 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.9 assists. He’s been averaging above 18 points per game in each of his previous five seasons—dating back to the 2017-18 season when he was moved midseason by the Detroit Pistons to the LA Clippers.
