The Philadelphia 76ers are still holding on All-Star guard Ben Simmons despite the player requesting a trade earlier in the offseason. The 76ers front office reportedly wants a significant haul to consider any deal for Simmons, and these demands have put off many of the interested teams. Well, except the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Cavaliers have made several approaches to the 76ers for Simmons in the past but haven’t managed to get a deal over the line. However, according to influential NBA correspondent Marc Stein, the Cavs don’t intend to quit so easily.
In his recent NBA Power Rankings piece, Stein said that league sources tell him Cleveland remains very interested in landing Simmons and will continue to make a push to land a player that would significantly speed up their rebuild process.
As Stein points out, Cleveland has the assets to make a deal for Simmons. They own all of their first-round picks moving forward and also have several young and exciting players that they might offer to Philly. This includes Lauri Markkanen, who signed a team-friendly contract with the franchise this offseason, and backcourt duo Darius Garland and Collin Sexton.
Another route that the Cavs might go is including Kevin Love in the deal for Simmons. Love still has two years on his four-year, $120 million contract but doesn’t seem to fit in the team’s plans, especially with an abundance of talented youngsters, such as this year’s No. 3 pick Evan Mobley, playing on his position.
It remains to be seen whether the Cavaliers can make an offer that will entice the 76ers. Philly’s president of basketball operations Daryl Morey is reportedly keeping his eyes on a superstar players like Bradley Beal or Damian Lillard and will hardly want to settle for anything else.
