By Jerry Wein
The NBA draft is tonight, and if Sixers big boss Daryl Morey lives up to his rep as a master-blaster trader, Ben Simmons may hit the hay dreaming of moving to another NBA town.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN explained during an on-air segment that Morey wants something similar to what the Houston Rockets received for James Harden in January in return for Simmons this summer:
“They’re asking for a lot, almost a Harden-Esque type package of All-Star player, draft picks, pick swaps”
—Woj on the 76ers’ asking price for Ben Simmons#TheJump https://t.co/RvNhfOSrbe pic.twitter.com/IO2ZQBArJt
— The Jump on ESPN (@NBATheJump) July 28, 2021
The original trade that sent Harden to the Brooklyn Nets also involved the Indiana Pacers and Cleveland Cavaliers. In total, Houston brought back Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum, Rodions Kurucs, three unprotected first-round draft picks, a fourth first-round selection, and a handful of pick swaps.
Unlike Simmons, however, Harden made his move to Brooklyn as a one-time regular-season Most Valuable Player who had multiple scoring titles on his resume. The last time Simmons faced NBA defenses, he shot 34.2% from the free-throw line throughout the playoffs and appeared scared to even dunk the basketball.
The Miami Heat, Toronto Raptors and Washington Wizards have been linked with Simmons in recent trade rumors.
