As the Ben Simmons trade saga continues to unravel, it becomes clear that he’s increasingly unlikely to make his return to the Philadephia 76ers, with the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey reporting that Simmons continues to have no plans to arrive for training camp early this week.
And, although many teams throughout the league would benefit from acquiring last season’s runner-up to the Defensive Player of the Year award, the one we can officially scratch off the list is the Golden State Warriors.
In a report from Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle, Warriors owner Joe Lacob openly questioned Simmons’s fit on the Warriors roster.
“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,” Lacob said.
“He’s very talented. The problem is: We have Draymond. Draymond and he 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.”
Golden State have been pegged as a potential trade destination for Simmons since the initial reports stating that Simmons wanted to play for a California team back in August.
However, as Lacob noted, the Warriors would have a difficult time figuring out a deal around Simmons $33 million salary (which will increase to $40 million dollars by 2022-23).
The Warriors were one of the teams that Sixers president Daryl Morey called this offseason in an attempt to move Simmons, Pompey notes.
At the time, the proposed package included Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, the No. 7 and No. 14 picks in the 2021 NBA Draft, along with two other first-round picks. Once the Warriors declined, trade the talks died down.
Simmons future seems still be up in the air, now with Tuesday, reports from ESPN Adrian Wojnorawski, stating that Simmons wont report to the Sixers training camp.
