‘Team to watch’ named in Ben Simmons NBA trade saga

Trade talk surrounding Ben Simmons has died down a little of late but an NBA insider has thrown another contender into the ring.

Where will Simmons end up? (Photo by Christian Petersen / Getty Images North America / AFP)

Cleveland could be Ben Simmons’ eventual destination.

ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski named the Cavaliers as a “team to watch” in the Simmons trade saga, citing the franchise’s assets — which include a slew of young players in Collin Sexton, Evan Mobley, Darius Garland, Jarrett Allen and Lauri Markkanen — and the fact that they were involved in talks before starting the season surprisingly well.

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The New York Post reports Taking on Simmons, who hasn’t played for Philadelphia this year citing mental health issues, comes with intrinsic risk. The point guard struggled badly in the playoffs last year, leading to questions about whether the 76ers could win with him in their line-up.

Thanks to his refusal to play for the Sixers, Simmons has also become persona non grata in the city and tanked his trade value.

The Aussie hasn’t been on the floor this season. (Photo by Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images)

In October, Sixers general manager Daryl Morey said the situation “is going to go a long time” because he wasn’t willing to accept a watered-down package for the former No. 1 overall draft pick.

Two months later, things are still locked into place, and don’t look to be changing anytime soon. The rumor mill has been relatively quiet, especially with rosters across the league being affected by Covid-19.

Simmons could help a team, in theory — he is, after all, a three-time All-Star and just 25-years-old. But there’s a lot of unknowns, even before getting to the shooting issues that contributed heavily to Philadelphia’s early playoff exit last year.

That’s what makes the situation so hard to resolve. Perhaps Cleveland — a team that looks ready to contend sooner than it might have thought — can be the solution.

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and was reproduced with permission

Originally published as ‘Team to watch’ named in Ben Simmons NBA trade saga