Report: 76ers Interested In Tyrese Haliburton, Multiple First Round Picks In Ben Simmons Package
Jan 24, 2022, 9:20 AM | Updated: 9:25 am
(Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
(Photo by John Fisher/Getty Images)
The price for Ben Simmons was always going to be steep, but it appears as if Philadelphia 76ers general manager Daryl Morey is asking for more in return with each passing report.
Monday morning’s latest update on the Simmons-76ers sage from The Athletic‘s Shams Charania and Sam Amick included an update on Sacramento’s status in the bidding, with the report stating that the 76ers would like second-year guard Tyrese Haliburton and “multiple” first-round picks in return for the disgruntled star Simmons.
For Simmons, the 76ers have asked the Kings for guard Tyrese Haliburton and multiple first-round picks, and asked for a package around John Collins and multiple first-round picks from the Hawks along with Atlanta taking on Tobias Harris, multiple sources tell The Athletic. The Athletic reported on Wednesday that the Kings do not plan to move De’Aaron Fox or Haliburton and want to build around them.
Shams Charania & Sam Amick of The Athletic – January 24, 2022
Just last week, Sacramento relayed to The Athletic that the team would like to build around the talented backcourt of Haliburton and De’Aaron Fox rather than send one or both out of town via trade.
Fox has started to resemble his 2020-21 All-Star-esque form over the past month, posting averages of 23.7 points, 4.6 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game on 50-percent shooting from the field over his past 10 appearances.
Haliburton is blossoming into one of the league’s premier distributors and knockdown shooters, having posted the eighth-most points-assist double-doubles in the league this season (12). The 21-year-old ranks among the league’s leaders in a variety of categories:
The feeling for weeks now has been that the Kings will not part with Haliburton. Adding not one, but multiple first-round picks makes any potential deal between Sacramento and Philadelphia nearly impossible.
Trading a young player like Haliburton with years of control (three seasons away from restricted free-agency) and further leveraging the future of this team by adding in years of first-round picks is not something that Sacramento can do in return for one player.
Ben Simmons is an All-Star talent and one if, if not the, best defender(s) in the league. That, we know is true.
But parting with the team’s most promising prospect in Haliburton and several first-round picks (knowing how Morey operates, it’s fair to assume that he is asking for at least three) isn’t what the Kings should do in order to build towards the future.
We’ll see how Kings general manager Monte McNair responds, but with just over two weeks until the February 10th trade deadline, it’s appearing more and more unlikely that Simmons will be moved–especially in a deal to the 916.
