Sixers Still Waiting For Lillard

It’s been a constant question all summer long: what is going to happen to the Phildelphia 76ers Ben Simmons, and what will the Sixers move him for? In short, the answer is simple to the team’s President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey: Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers or Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards. According to Tim Bontemps and Bobby Marks of ESPN, that is what Morey is willing to wait for and the reason Simmons has yet to be traded.

The simple answer? Because Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal aren’t available yet.

Philadelphia’s president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey, has proven three things over his long, successful run as an executive: He isn’t afraid of awkward situations, he isn’t going to make a deal for the sake of making one and he is constantly trying to swing trades for stars.

Like several other teams around the league, the 76ers are closely monitoring the Lillard situation in hopes that he asks out of Portland. Earlier this summer, Lillard said he didn’t feel like the Blazers had a championship roster and wanted to see improvements. Portland has had a quiet offseason in terms of free-agent additions.

Until there’s any movement there — or another team comes in with a huge offer for Simmons separately — it seems likely Simmons will remain on Philadelphia’s roster for the foreseeable future.

Given Lillard’s recent post on Instagram, it seems unlikely that Lillard will ask out of his contract with the Trail Blazers any time soon.