The Cleveland Cavaliers are reportedly joining as a hot name on the possibly never-ending pursuit of Philadelphia 76ers’ embattled star Ben Simmons.
The Cavaliers were an unlikely strong candidate and a franchise to watch that has shown interest in Simmons sweepstakes, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Cleveland can offer several lucrative assets to convince GM Daryl Morey for a straight swap or go for a three-to-the-four-team transaction that centers around the Aussie point forward, via Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire:
“COVID issues in the league has cooled a lot of the trade talk around the league, but as players start to get back, teams get their rosters back, you know Ben Simmons in Philadelphia, I think you’ll see the Sixers start to reengage teams. Certainly he is no closer to agreeing to come back to play with the Sixers this season and they don’t have any real traction on a trade yet. Trade deadline is February 10 and you can expect teams who’ve been engaged with Philly previously Indiana, Sacramento, Minnesota among them but but here’s an interesting thing to watch the Cleveland Cavaliers who before they went on this really incredible start to the season had been engaged with Philly on Simmons. They’ve got some really intriguing assets either in a straight deal with Philly or perhaps a three or four team deal and we reported earlier J.B. Bickerstaff agreed to a new extension today through ’26-’27, but this is a team in Cleveland that’s just a game out of third place.”
Earlier this week, HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto provided that the Cavaliers are leaning towards roster enhancing to sustain their streaky performance so far this season and are willing to give up their low-valued first-round picks so far, as they had engaged internally and externally about targeting some notable swingmen and small forwards – which includes Simmons on some few names listed.
Currently fifth-seeded and only four games away from first place in the competitive East rankings, the Cavs would love to ride on Simmons’ game-changing versatility and playmaking which can be paired with Darius Garland and sixth-man Ricky Rubio. He can fill the team’s questionable shoes at the starting small forward spot and cover the perimeter woes of his fellow starters with his length, quickness, switchability and defensive help ability.
Meanwhile, the Sixers would be enticed by Cleveland’s risky attitude this time amid a hot start. While a top 25 player remains the foremost priority in the minds of GM Daryl Morey, he can still snatch a first-rounder upon a multi-team transaction that could be orchestrated with the Cavs.
Insider Marc Stein detailed from the past few days that Simmons trade talks are ‘remarkably little’ ahead of Christmas day. Noted that some ball clubs are now regaining the presence of their players that are fresh from the protocols, this marks a new start for the dramatic whispers about the three-time All-star.
No matter what the conclusion of this complicated saga would be, teams involved would certainly have a satisfying feeling in spite of the risky decision to pull their respective trigger. As days continue to move closer to the deadline, the sense of urgency will continue to rise in this 2021-2022 campaign marred by uncertainties.
