De’Aaron Fox – Sacramento Kings
There were reports last month about the 76ers not wanting to trade for De’Aaron Fox, but they should really think twice before saying no what the Kings are offering.
No team in the NBA has been more persistent in trying to trade for Ben Simmons than the Sacramento Kings and while they do not have an “All-Star” talent to trade away, De’Aaron Fox is likely as close to one as the Sixers will get for Simmons.
At just 24-years-old, De’Aaron Fox has cemented himself as one of the better young offensive talents in this league and put up borderline All-Star numbers a season ago, averaging 25.2 points, 7.2 assists, 1.5 steals and shooting 47.7% from the floor.
According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Kings have no intentions of moving either De’Aaron Fox or Tyrese Haliburton before next week’s trade deadline, but could this feeling change should the Philadelphia 76ers be willing to trade Simmons for Fox?
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At this point, getting any kind of value for Ben Simmons makes the most sense for the Philadelphia 76ers because the longer they wait to trade him, the more his value is going to decrease.
Simmons is owed $146.6M through the 2024-25 season, already making him a long-term liability and should the Philadelphia 76ers decide to try and move him in the offseason rather than at the trade deadline, it will be almost a full year since Ben Simmons has actually played in the NBA.
Now durability becomes a concern for the 2022-23 season for any team that could trade for him and on top of everything else, the Sixers are wanting to contend for a championship right now.
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De’Aaron Fox can score, facilitate and most importantly, take a ton of pressure off of Joel Embiid to have to do everything for this team. Being a young, dynamic guard, Philadelphia would have two dynamic scorers in their backcourt in Fox and Maxey, as well as still have shooters and scorers on the wing in Seth Curry, Tobias Harris and Danny Green.
The more and more you look at this trade, the more and more it becomes clear that a clean swap of Simmons for Fox makes perfect sense for the 76ers. The Kings are willing to make this trade right now, which is why the 76ers should be willing to do so as well.
