Tried to avoid any soundbyte that might give any indication that he was open to trading Ben Simmons, Philadelphia’s embattled All-Star point guard just days removed from a disastrous postseason performance.
“None of us can predict the future of what is going to happen … we love what Ben brings.
It has to be, doesn’t it? Four years of Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid as teammates, and what does Philadelphia have to show for it? A few playoff appearances? Winning records? The Simmons/Embiid Sixers have yet to advance past the second round.
“Really 25 or 26 teams would love to be in our situation with an MVP caliber top player, an All-Star, a near All-Star, great young players signed for the long term, good veterans,” Morey said.
In 2019, when Philadelphia may have been a Kawhi Leonard bouncing ball away from beating Toronto—and potentially winning a championship.
Meanwhile his free throw percentage has hovered around 60% in each of the last three seasons.
If Bradley Beal forces a trade from Washington this summer, Simmons could be the centerpiece of a deal the Wizards could get interested in.
“They might have to attach a young player just to move him.” Added another exec, “People can say he is good in all these other areas but with today’s game shooting is the most important skill.
The result: Leonard is one of the NBA’s more reliable three-point shooters, connecting on nearly 40% of his three’s this season.
Morey said the Sixers were “committed to this group” but that was after Embiid called Simmons refusal to attempt a layup late in Game 7 of the Sixers loss to the Hawks as the turning point in the game and after Rivers said he couldn’t answer the question of whether Simmons could be a championship point guard.