“Ben Simmons will be the centerpiece of a Damian Lillard trade”: Sixers reportedly ‘hesitant’ to deal with Warriors or Spurs in hopes to land Blazers superstar

Sixers are waiting on Damian Lillard to become available so as to trade for him by sending Ben Simmons to the Portland Trailblazers. 

The Portland Trailblazers have had a rocky 2021 offseason at best. Damian Lillard has consistently been involved in trade rumors, Neil Olshey and the front office could not surround him with enough talent to convince him to stay, and to top it all off, they completely botched the handling of the Chauncey Billups hiring. 

Despite this all, Damian Lillard has continually refuted any claims that linked him to any team other than the Blazers. He’s even gotten into back-and-forths on Twitter with respected reporters who spread false information about him being ok with taking less money to allow the Blazers to acquire more superstar talent and asking for a trade.

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Ben Simmons on the other hand, has not said a peep about the Sixers debacle he’s landed himself into. After an abysmal ECSF against the Hawks, the relationship between the Klutch Sports athlete and the Sixers has become more than estranged. Ben is clearly on the way out and it’s merely a matter of when. 

Sixers want to trade Ben Simmons for Damian Lillard only. 

Damian Lillard hasn’t explicitly said that he wanted out of Portland but said that the current core that they have cannot contend for a championship. With signings like Cody Zeller and Tony Snell, it doesn’t seem as though Dame got what he wanted. 

Many have also been wondering why Ben Simmons hasn’t been traded yet as it’s obvious he needs to leave. According to Zach Lowe, Daryl Morey and the Philly front office is patiently waiting on Lillard to become available, with Bradley Beal being a second option to the 6x All-Star.

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“Simmons is the only one among them who is available, but his availability is very much tied to the other two-and probably more to Lillard than Beal, though that can swing in time. Several teams, including the Warriors and Spurs, have discussed Simmons with varying degrees of interest. But, one reason talks haven’t gone far is that the Sixers likely view Ben as their path to Damian,” said Lowe.