Unconsciously, the 21-22 season has passed the halfway point, although Ben Simmons has not yet played, but under Embiid's leadership, the 76ers can still guarantee a certain competitiveness, and currently ranks 6th in the East with a record of 25 wins and 18 losses, only one win away from the top 4. For the 76ers, even if Embiid does not intervene in dealing with simmons' retention, the team management needs to come up with a solution as soon as possible, because no one wants to see Embiid, who is at his peak, waste a year in vain. According to statistics, in the past month, Embiid has successfully adjusted his competitive state to the best of his career, averaging 32 points and 11 rebounds per game, shooting as high as 54%.
In fact, there is no need for so-called professionals to analyze, everyone knows that either persuade Simmons to return to the team, or open a trade and exchange for equivalent chips, both of which can help the 76ers improve the depth of the lineup, Embiid is not easily limited in the game, and the probability of the 76ers winning the championship will be greatly increased. Recent reports suggest that the odds of the 76ers succeeding in persuading Simmons to return are slim to none, who is ready for a tug-of-war that even if he doesn't play a game this season, Simmons won't put on the 76ers shirt again. All indications are that if the 76ers want to make a difference this year, they can only look for a way out of trading work. 76 people to take off? The exposure of the 2-for-5 trading scheme is about to land, and the problem of Harden's contract renewal has added to the difficulty.
The source comes from NBA journalist James Ham, who in order to be able to get Simmons, the Kings would rather "swallow" Tobias Harris's premium contract as a core member of the 76ers' front line for the past four seasons. Harris signed a 5-year total $180 million contract in 2019, and fans who have been following the 76ers for a long time should have an impression, and it was precisely because of the renewal of Harris that year that the 76ers did not have the extra energy to keep Jimmy Butler, plus the Heat have been trying to recruit, so it has this situation. Butler brought his tough guy attributes to Miami to help the Heat reach the NBA Finals at one point, while Harris's performance was always tepid, with an average of 19 points per game.
The big contract of nearly $200 million, which was also labeled a premium by the media, is now a hot potato, and the 76ers who are bent on sending Harris away have to bundle him with Simmons. The 76ers' total salary this season adds up to $69 million, which directly scares off the teams in the championship period, and most of them are reluctant to take over Harris. Under such a premise, the Kings are one of the few teams in Simmons' many potential homes willing to continue negotiations with the 76ers, James Ham was told that a big deal involving 5 players and 2 first-round picks is about to land, the specific chips between the two sides are that the 76ers provide Simmons + Harris, and get Hield + Barnes + Bagley + 2 first-round picks from the Kings.
From the follow-up reports of multiple reporters, it is known that the Kings originally wanted to put Fox into the trading plan about Simmons, but was explicitly rejected by the 76ers, including Rivers, many coaching staff members, believe that the strong and weak Fox is not suitable for the 76ers, the most critical point, Fox and Simmons, the three-point projection is not very stable, this factor to some extent affected the 76ers' decision. As mentioned above, the Kings are willing to do whatever it takes to get Simmons, and now only Harry Burton and rookie Mitchell are strictly non-selling, and may not be able to catch up with Simmons in their comprehensive ability, but Barnes and Hield are high-quality championship puzzles, and they are very suitable for playing next to Embiid.
As for Bagley, the rookie will be a free agent this summer, the 76ers if they don't want to cultivate themselves, they can exchange the equivalent chips by signing first and then exchanging, all in all, 2 for 5 is a win-win deal, the 76ers perfectly strengthen the lineup, it is possible to take off again, and the Kings have the favorite star. Finally, talk about the 2 for 5 big deals behind, what kind of impact on the Nets, the most intuitive is undoubtedly the difficulty of renewing Harden has increased, I believe that everyone has recently heard some news, the 76ers are ready to recruit Harden in this offseason, leaving aside the relatively flexible lineup structure, if the 76ers can block the Nets successfully in the playoffs, the probability of Harden leaving the team who has not won the NBA Finals for 2 consecutive times is bound to increase, and the 76ers who are strong and strong will have an opportunity to take advantage of it.
To say a few more words, not only the potential competitor 76ers, the Nets have a big problem in renewing Harden, that is, Irving, although currently returning to the team as a part-time role, but in an earlier interview, Irving once again stressed that he will not change his decision, whether to play vaccines has nothing to do with basketball, leading to many people now seriously doubting that Harden is not willing to work with a player who does not put basketball first for a long time. Therefore, the uncertainties on Irving also affected the Nets to renew Harden's contract, do you think Harden will leave the Nets in the future? Welcome to leave a comment below to discuss, thank you for reading and following.