Another day has passed and Ben Simmons is still on the roster for the Philadelphia 76ers. The organization has been taking trade calls on the 25-year-old three-time All-Star since the team was bounced in the second round of the playoffs, and Simmons has requested a trade.
The Sixers are set to begin training camp on Sept. 28 and Simmons has threatened to sit out camp in order to get a deal done. While the Sixers expect him to show up to camp at some point, they still intend to move the embattled star at some point to avoid awkwardness.
A new trade suggestion from TrueHoop has the Sixers moving Simmons to the Toronto Raptors in a straight-up deal for Pascal Siakam:
The word on the street is that Pascal Siakam is about to show everyone he’s back playing like an All-Star again. Of course it may not happen, but the Raptors staff believe Siakam had a string of bad luck (COVID being the primary problem) that held him back last season. He’s turning 28 this year and the Raptors are building for a title run down the road a few years, so adding Simmons makes sense just based on his age alone. … If Siakam ascends into the player that the Sixers would covet alongside Embiid as the season unfolded, I can see a deal getting done. He has championship experience and is a two-way player, fitting well with what the Sixers need.
This writer still has concerns over a Siakam-Joel Embiid partnership, but Siakam’s ability to score at a high level while being an excellent passer at the big man spot is something that is attractive next to the big fella. He averaged 21.4 points, 4.5 assists and 7.2 rebounds this past season.
The big concern is he only shot 29.7% from deep on 4.4 attempts in the 2020-21 season. Now, that could be due to all of the challenges thrown his way such as COVID-19, playing in Tampa rather than Toronto because of border restrictions, and all of the changes surrounding the Raptors, but it is a concern nonetheless. Embiid needs shooting surrounding him to succeed on offense like he normally does.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
