Ben David Simmons is an Australian professional basketball player for the Philadelphia 76ers of the National Basketball Association.
Ben Simmons: Traded to lakers| Is being paid right now| Blazers
Traded to Lakers:
Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons, who has requested a trade, would reportedly welcome playing for the San Antonio Spurs and head coach Gregg Popovich.
Longtime NBA reporter Marc Stein mentioned that note Friday on Substack (h/t RealGM Wiretap).
“I’ve heard that Ben Simmons would welcome the opportunity to play for Popovich if the Spurs found a way to acquire him,” Stein wrote.
Is being paid right now:
The 25-year-old Simmons has averaged 15.9 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game over his four NBA seasons. He’s a three-time All-Star and two-time NBA All-Defensive Team member.
The 9-15 Spurs have struggled in the early going, although they have won five of their last seven games after a 4-13 start.
That’s an issue for the Spurs. They have one budding star player in point guard Dejounte Murray and some intriguing young talent around him. Unless San Antonio wants to trade Murray plus some other pieces, a Simmons deal would not work.
|
Year
|
Team
|
GP
|
Min
|
Pts
|
FG%
|
Reb
|
Ast
|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
2020
|
58
|
32.4
|
14.3
|
55.7
|
7.2
|
6.9
|
|
|
2019
|
57
|
35.4
|
16.4
|
58.0
|
7.8
|
8.0
|
|
|
2018
|
79
|
34.2
|
16.9
|
56.3
|
8.8
|
7.7
|
Blazers:
The Sixers and Blazers connected in recent days and Portland interim general manager Joe Cronin made clear to Philadelphia that the franchise still plans to continue building around Lillard, sources said.
Nevertheless, the Sixers are becoming more engaged on multiple fronts in talks centered on Simmons. Philadelphia has been aggressively trying to assemble two- and three-team deal structures to land a package that would include a top 25-level player, sources said.
Much of the increased momentum centers on Wednesday, when many players signed in the offseason as free agents become eligible to be traded. Starting Dec. 15, 84% of the 446 players under contract can be included in deals. Currently, 65% of the league’s players are eligible.
