76ers Could Explore Ben Simmons-LeBron James Trade, Philadelphia Executive Says

The 2018-19 NBA season is entering its final stages with both the Western and Eastern Conference finalists decided – the Golden State Warriors will face the Portland Trail Blazers and the Milwaukee Bucks will take on the Toronto Raptors. While the quartet’s focus will be on making it to the NBA Finals – the rest of the franchises are now focused on plans to strengthen their respective teams ahead of next season.

The New York Knicks, Cleveland Cavaliers and the Phoenix Suns, the three worst teams in the NBA this season are waiting for the Draft Lottery on Tuesday night, which will decide who among them land the No. 1 pick for the 2019 draft. The other teams are waiting for free agency and potential trades in the summer.

While Anthony Davis is top of the list when it comes to the trade market – there have been talks about LeBron James being traded after the Los Angeles Lakers failed to make the playoffs despite signing the three-time NBA champion on a four-year deal last summer. According to Tom Haberstroh of NBC Sports, the Philadelphia 76ers could be interested in signing James by offering young sensation Ben Simmons as part of the trade package.

The logic behind the potential trade between James-Simmons is due to the latter’s inability to play alongside Joel Embiid and moreover, the talent on the 76ers roster that includes Jimmy Butler, Tobias Harris and JJ Reddick will offer James a better chance to challenge for the NBA championship than the Lakers, who need to bring in reinforcements in the summer to have a chance of making the post-season in 2020.

"Fair or not, Simmons failing to add some semblance of a jump shot in Year 2 of his career is seen as a reason that Philadelphia has to put him on the trade block. Perhaps this is just wishful thinking by rival executives. There has been no indication from the Philly side that Simmons is being floated or will be this summer,” Haberstroh wrote in a column for NBC Sports.

“It's early in that process. Leonard's shot just fell through the net. But one Western Conference executive brought up a name that could be a Simmons trade target: LeBron James. 'I think they very well might explore that,' said a rival executive of Philadelphia," he said.

“James doesn't have a no-trade clause, but he shares the same Klutch Sports agent with Ben Simmons in Rich Paul. James has two seasons left on his deal before he can become a free agent. After a disastrous offseason in which their president of basketball operations abruptly resigned and they struck out on their top two head coaching targets in Monty Williams and Tyronn Lue, do the Los Angeles Lakers honestly believe they can put together a championship contender in the next two seasons?” he explained.

“If the answer is no, trading James has to be on the table. And if you're going to do that, there's a short list of players that would be worthy of being traded for the King. Simmons is certainly good enough to be on it."

Haberstroh went on to explain the financial complications that will face the 76ers if they want the trade to come to fruition, which makes it highly unlikely, especially since Simmons is a young talent with future potential, while James is in the twilight of his career. But the 76ers could possibly be in for a summer of change as they look to get over the disappointment of losing in Game 7 to the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference semifinals.