PHILADELPHIA — Plenty of trade rumors involving the 76ers will undoubtedly be forthcoming between now and the NBA trade deadline Feb. 10.
That’s a given since Ben Simmons is still not playing games midway through the 2021-22 season. But Sixers coach Doc Rivers knows more of his players are going to hear their names come up in reports over the next four weeks.
“Some guys take it very seriously and read everything,” said Rivers prior to Wednesday’s 109-98 home loss to the Hornets that snapped a seven-game win streak. “Some guys ignore everything. So you just try to keep the pulse of your team (and) each individual. … My job (is) keeping them together.”
Rivers said he speaks to president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and general manager Elton Brand “all the time” about what he’d like to add to the roster.
“We talk about our team building,” Rivers said. “You’re just not going to throw any trade together and do it. We’re looking at our team and what fits, how it works (and) what the style I want to play with this group.”
On a podcast Tuesday, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Marc Spears said each has heard the Sixers “want to include Tobias Harris” in a Simmons trade to increase the chances of landing a star that Morey covets in return.
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Swapping Simmons or Harris separately for impact players isn’t easy, so packaging them, while another option, would only seem to complicate matters at first glance. How it could make sense is because there are numerous quality power forwards that could be available, such as the Hawks’ John Collins, the Pacers’ Domantas Sabonis and the Kings’ Harrison Barnes.
The Sixers would want more for Simmons, but by including Harris those ‘4’ men could be part of what comes back to Philadelphia and Rivers wouldn’t have to worry about redundancy at power forward.
Asked about the trade rumors following Wednesday’s defeat, Harris replied, “Honestly, it’s something I’d rather not talk about. It already took too much energy out of me yesterday and today. I just move on from that.
“This is my 11th year in the NBA. It’s not my first rodeo. It’s not the first time that I’ve been in trade rumors and it probably won’t be the last, so that’s that.”
Harris has been traded five times since coming into the league in 2011-12.
The Sixers’ priority continues to be trading Simmons and landing a difference-maker for him. While they’re not actively shopping Harris, according to an NBA source, they’d be willing to include him in the right deal.
Harris is making $36 million as the Sixers’ highest-paid player this season and the embattled Simmons, given his salary boost from being an All-NBA third-team selection in 2019-20, is at roughly $35.3 million. That’s a combined $71.3 million, which would mean the Sixers must get at least $53 million in a trade for those two.
Few, if any, teams would be interested in acquiring both Simmons and Harris, but it becomes more reasonable if a third or fourth team joins the party.
It doesn’t help the Sixers’ cause that Harris isn’t playing nearly as well this season as he did during last year’s regular season. His 3-point shooting has dropped off precipitously – from .394 to .295 – and he hasn’t attacked the basket as consistently as he did in 2020-21.
And Simmons’ value decreased by skipping training camp, the preseason and sitting out the first 40 regular-season games for “personal reasons” in an effort to get the Sixers to trade him.
Simmons has always been a better player in the regular season than the playoffs. By not suiting up this season, teams last saw him against Atlanta, when he didn’t take a shot in the fourth quarters of the final four games and shot .333 from the foul line in the seven-game series.
ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported Simmons’ agent, Rich Paul, had lunch with Morey and Brand in Philadelphia on Wednesday, but nothing changed and Simmons is “no closer to playing this season.” Paul, who also represents the Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey and the Hornets’ Miles Bridges, sat courtside at Wednesday’s game.
While the Simmons discussions, some of which could include Harris, will certainly pick up, this situation could linger after the trade deadline and still be ongoing at the NBA Draft, which is June 23.
As for the chances a Simmons/Harris mega-deal happens by Feb. 10, I’ll say it doesn’t, though all it takes is one offer.
Tom Moore: tmoore@couriertimes; @TomMoorePhilly
