Sixers' Ben Simmons Pairs up With Hawks' Trae Young in Hypothetical Trade
Training camp is less than two weeks away for the Sixers. For the time being, Ben Simmons remains a member of the 76ers and doesn't seem to be getting pushed out anytime soon. As Simmons stays put, many publications across the internet continue to throw out hypothetical trade scenarios.
We've seen Simmons linked to trade ideas with the usual suspects, the Sacramento Kings, Toronto Raptors, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers, and more many times. But Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report threw in a new name this week and proposed a Sixers-Hawks trade that would team Ben Simmons up with Trae Young.
Before Swartz makes his way to a hypothetical Ben Simmons trade, he proposes the idea that the 76ers dish out veteran power forward Tobias Harris to the Portland Trail Blazers in exchange for veteran shooting guard CJ McCollum.
After getting that swap done, Swartz suggests the Sixers could conclude the Ben Simmons trade saga by sending him down to Atlanta to join the Hawks.
"For Philly, they get a replacement for Harris at power forward in Gallinari, who’s still one of the best floor-spacing big men in the NBA. Huerter is a 6’7″ shooting guard who can handle the ball and Reddish still carries incredible upside on both ends.
"The Sixers would carry a starting five of McCollum, Seth Curry, Danny Green, Gallinari and Embiid to begin the season, with a bench of Huerter, Reddish, Tyrese Maxey, Matisse Thybulle and Andre Drummond."
The Sixers wouldn't get an All-Star caliber player in return for Simmons as desired in this case, but they get a decent haul of Danilo Gallinari, Kevin Huerter, and Cam Reddish. Like most hypothetical trades thrown out there, though, it's difficult to imagine either team pulling off this type of move.
Philly only receives one "starter" in return for Simmons, and that's a player who came off the bench during Atlanta's run to the Eastern Conference Finals last season. Although the three incoming prospects could be decent additions, the Sixers would still have a question mark at the point guard position as all starting guards mentioned above aren't typically full-time ball-handlers.
As for Atlanta, would they actually want to give up multiple prospects for Simmons at this point? After all, they witnessed the three-time All-Star's worst seven-game playoff performance firsthand as they were responsible for eliminating the Sixers.
Plus, pairing up Trae Young and Ben Simmons could get confusing for ATL. As Young is the team's point guard, the Hawks would likely have to attempt to move Simmons elsewhere on the floor. Moving Simmons has proven to be a tricky situation as the Sixers have struggled to find an ideal fit for Simmons outside of the point guard position on offense as well in past seasons.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
