Following several months of back-and-forth, big headlines, and endless rumors, it looks like the Philadelphia 76ers will finally tradeBen Simmons soon. Unsurprisingly, a number of teams have been linked with the 25-year-old, including the Los Angeles Lakers.
December 15, which marks an important date on the NBA calendar as players who signed their contracts in the last free agency will become available for trade, is drawing nearer and teams all over the league are already identifying their opportunities.
Simmons is undoubtedly one of the big names on the market and the Sixers may believe itās the right moment to get another All-Star caliber player in exchange. Meanwhile, the Lakers donāt look happy with Russell Westbrook either. Will they consider swapping these stars?
NBA Trade Rumors: This is where the Sixers stand on a potential Simmons ā Westbrook trade
According to Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Lakers are considering trading Russell Westbrook after his slow start in LA. However, his massive contract will probably notmake things easy if they finally decide to look for trade partners.
āThere are simply few players aside from John Wall, for whom Westbrook was traded to Washington last summer, who are available for trade and come close to Westbrookās earnings,ā Fischer wrote.
āOne of those players is Ben Simmons. The Athletic reported Los Angelesā interest in Simmons on Monday, and Westbrookās salary, outside of Jamesā and Davisā, is the only number on the Lakersā books that can match Simmonsā own lofty deal. Even then, Westbrook is not a player on the Sixersā list of hopeful returns, league sources told B/R, and conversations with the Lakers never developed very far.ā
It seems that Philadelphia will prefer to wait for another alternative rather thanexchanging Simmons for the first big-name player that comes their way. And theyāre not to blame. Westbrook wouldnāt bea bad replacement, but they can do better.
Even though they need to resolve Simmonsā situation once and for all, a number of teams will be interested in landing the Australian, so thereās no need to rush. Meanwhile, it remains to be seen whether Los Angeles will actually try to move on Westbrook.
