Minnesota Not Interested In Moving Towns or Edwards In Any Simmons Deal With Philadelphia
With just over a month until the start of the 2021-22 NBA season, the Philadelphia 76ers still haven’t found a landing spot for Ben Simmons. However, it continues to become clear that the Minnesota Timberwolves are interested in acquiring him via trade.
Jon Krawczynski gave insight into the Timberwolves’ perspective on Simmons on The Athletic NBA Show last week.
According to Krawczynski, Minnesota doesn’t want to trade Anthony Edwards or Karl-Anthony Towns in any Simmons deal, calling those guys ‘deal-breakers’. Furthermore, while they’d be more likely to part ways with D’Angelo Russell, they’d prefer not to include him in a package for Simmons either.
Without those three players in a deal, there’s not many appealing packages from Philadelphia’s perspective. With their desire to win now even after moving Simmons, future draft picks will only go so far. In this situation, Malik Beasley would have to be the centerpiece of the deal, which is likely why no deal has been close to this point.
If the Timberwolves were able to pull this off, a core of Simmons, Towns, Russell and Edwards would become an immediate playoff contender.
The Sixers have had a high asking point for Simmons to this point, so it will be interesting to see what they ultimately get in return for him. Last season, Simmons averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game while making his third-straight NBA All-Star team. This is exactly why Philadelphia isn’t interested in selling low on him.
