No, The Cavaliers Cannot Realistically Trade For Ben Simmons

The Philadelphia 76ers are arguably one of this season’s biggest disappointments. With Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid forming an incredibly talented tandem, there were serious title hopes for Philadelphia. Instead, everything has fallen apart around them. Al Horford, who signed a four-year, $109 million deal with the Sixers last offseason, has been relegated to becoming one of the team’s most expensive bench players. Ditto for Tobias Harris, who signed a five-year, $180 million contract last offseason, is starting to already look like one of the worst contract’s in the league. Head coach Brett Brown has begun to show he might not be talented enough tactician to elevate this Sixers squad.

What was once a young, promising and exciting Philadelphia team has been grossly mismanaged by general manager Elton Brand and with an inevitable early playoff exit, it will likely lead to serious shakeup. According to league sources, it could even come down to between Simmons and Embiid. Both are proven superstars in today’s NBA and either of them would bring back a lion’s share of assets to allow Philadelphia to rebuild on the fly. That means that the rest of the NBA will circle this situation like vultures, waiting to swoop in and take advantage of an already inept Sixers front office.

The Cleveland Cavaliers are one of the teams monitoring the ongoing problems in Phildelphia. According to Cavaliers insider Chris Fedor, the team believes they have the right combination of young assets and draft picks to interest the Sixers for Simmons. Cleveland’s trade package would have to be headlined by polarizing point guard Darius Garland, who had a mediocre rookie season but has the potential to be a three-point assassin as well as future picks from Cleveland and as well as a 2021 first round selection via the Milwaukee Bucks. In order to help make salary match, as Simmons begins his five-year, $170 million contract next season, the Cavaliers would have to send Kevin Love as well.

Obviously this seems like such a perfect outcome for the Cavaliers. According to league sources, team owner Dan Gilbert has made it clear to general manager Koby Altman and his staff that he wants the Cavaliers acting as a playoff threat next season. Adding Simmons to the mix would instantly do that. But, the thing is, Simmons isn’t going to come to Cleveland in any form of a trade. Sure, the base of Cleveland’s offer is impressive, and can get better if they add more to it, but if the Sixers really wanted to entertain a trade for Simmons, there are plenty of better offers out there.

Instead, what Philadelphia should do is try and fix all of Brand’s blunders as the team’s general manager. They could try and offload Horford’s bloated contract, maybe to a team like Cleveland, by attaching future picks or young assets like Matisse Thybulle to the deal. Trading Tobias Harris for assets seems like a smart play as well. If they’re really serious about trading Simmons, the Sixers should swing for the fences and go after a proven star like Portland’s Damian Lillard. The Cavaliers don’t have a Lillard-like player anywhere on their roster at the moment, so trading for Simmons is a fool’s errand.

If Cleveland’s prerogative is to really try and compete for the playoffs next season, there are still options out there. Like Fedor alluded to in his column, the Bulls are another tumultuous team in regard to their relationship with Zach LaVine. LaVine is a lot more realistic of a target for Cleveland, and could join a team that acquired Andre Drummond at last year’s trade deadline to make a playoff push. He would fit in nicely alongside Drummond as well as Collin Sexton, forming a formidable offensive unit.

Of course Cleveland’s best course of action would be to continue taking this rebuild slowly, acquiring more talent through the draft so they don’t end up in the same situation again a year or two from now. It’s just that trading for Simmons is entirely unrealistic for the Cavaliers. There are other options, thankfully, but it remains to be seen what direction Cleveland is heading in.