Report: The Sixers Don’t Want John Collins Or Domantas Sabonis In A Ben Simmons Trade Because They Have Tobias Harris

The NBA trade deadline is less than a month away, and as of now, Ben Simmons is still on the Philadelphia 76ers. Trade rumors about the disgruntled All-Star who had yet to play in a game this season are heating back up, though, with a recent report indicating that Philly’s desire is to find a Simmons deal that would let them offload Tobias Harris and the remainder of his contract.

According to a new report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, having Harris on the books has caused the Sixers to not be interested in some of the players that are ostensibly available in a Simmons trade. Specifically, Woj pointed out a trio of power forwards who don’t make much sense if they join a team with Harris, and reiterated that Philly is happy to play the long-game on a Simmons deal here.

“Right now, you look at Philadelphia and the kind of players available to them in a Ben Simmons trade: Harrison Barnes in Sacramento, Domantas Sabonis in Indiana, John Collins in Atlanta,” Wojnarowski said. “That’s not gonna move the needle at this point for Ben Simmons — especially positionally with those players, power forwards. For Philly, it doesn’t make any sense, hypothetically, if they took any of those guys on in big deals, and to still have Tobias Harris on your roster, at the same position, making closer to $40 million a year over the following two seasons.

“So unless they can expand the deal, make it bigger, listen, Atlanta is not taking Tobias Harris back in a deal for Ben Simmons,” he continued. “Could they route Tobias Harris somewhere else Listen, it is a lot of money on his contract. Right now, Philadelphia continues to be content to wait, and their philosophy all along has been if we get a trade package back that doesn’t make us a championship contender, doesn’t get us back to that level that we felt we were with with Ben Simmons, we’re not doing it. I think even with a month to the deadline, there’s a real chance this goes on beyond the deadline.”

It was reported earlier in the week that Collins, who is disgruntled in Atlanta, could be available in a move for Simmons, while Sabonis was among the players on the Pacers who were mentioned as potentially available if the team wants to blow it up.