Critical Comments About Sixers' Ben Simmons Results in Fine for Warriors Owner

When the Philadelphia 76ers began talking about a potential trade involving Ben Simmons, several teams showed interest, as expected.

While it's been primarily small-market teams consistently in the mix, the Golden State Warriors, who hope to be back on the path to championship contender status, also seemed to have done their due diligence on a potential Simmons trade too.

But at this point, Golden State's interest in Simmons is rumored to be low. And the team's majority owner Joe Lacob confirmed the Warriors have doubt in Simmons' fit in Golden State and his ability to close out games during a sit-down with The San Francisco Chronicle's Rusty Simmons.

"I think we are always looking at everything to see if we can improve our team," Lacob said in regards to a trade for Simmons. "We would always look. In some ways, it doesn't really fit what we're doing. He makes a lot of money. And, can he finish games? I don't know. He's very talented. The problem is: We have Draymond. Draymond and him are very similar in the sense that neither one really shoots, and they do a lot of the playmaking. That's one issue. The salary structure is another."

Although Lacob's comments are more critical than anything, the Warriors' majority owner was still slapped with a fine the following evening. According to a press release put out by the NBA, Lacob has been fined $50,000 for violating the league's anti-tampering rule with his comments about Simmons.

A lot can change over the course of the offseason season and beyond, but judging based on Lacob's comments a little under a week before training camp; the Golden State Warriors won't be getting into any bidding wars for Ben Simmons' services.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.