The Sacramento Kings shine amidst Ben Simmons trade rumors Tuesday afternoonThey returned to the news today. Local reporters reported that De Aaron Fox is unlikely to appear in trade talks.

These are the words of Jason Anderson of the Sacramento Bees, who played in Fox and Simmons transaction graph:

The possibility of a deal exists, but according to reports, the 76ers are looking for an All-Star player in return. De’Aaron Fox may fit this description, but sources believe that the Kings are unlikely to trade their energetic 23-year-old point guard.

…

The Kings want to put Simmons, a 6-foot-11 and 240-pound point guard, in the frontcourt of a lineup composed of Fox, Tyrese Halliburton, Harrison Barnes, and Richon Holmes , If they can keep him, then free agent. The addition of Simmons will immediately improve a team to finish 30day Last season’s defensive efficiency and rebounding in the NBA.

Sacramento may be willing to offer a package including Buddy Hild, Marvin Bagley III and one or more future first-round picks. A league source recently told the Sacramento Bees that the Kings must give the 76ers at least three first-round picks in the trade surrounding Hilde and Bagley. Another source said that unless Fox or Halliburton are included in the deal, the 76ers will not be interested, but if there is no better deal, Hilder’s elite three-pointers and Bagley have not materialized. The potential may be very attractive. [Sac Bee]

In the author’s view, the last paragraph is a fairly generous framework for the return to Philadelphia package with this theoretical deal. Bagley has always been relatively public. He hopes to leave Sacramento to seek greater opportunities elsewhere. These opportunities will not exist in Philadelphia where Joel Embiid is the center, and he has been paid for the second pick. Used for production has fallen far behind its peers in the top five in 2018. Buddy Hield, a name we used to say, is a high-capacity, high-efficiency outside shooter. He is definitely suitable for offense centered on Embiid, but he is not the “all star” genius of the 76ers who is looking for Ben Simon The return.

Fox is clearly the crown jewel of Sacramento, so it is understandable that he is unwilling to break up with him. He just ended his best individual season so far, averaging 25.2 points and 7.2 assists per game, and his steady efficiency is improving almost everywhere on the court. Fox has made better use of his speed in 2021 than ever before. Despite only playing 58 games, he created the best stats of his career at the basket and demonstrated the flash of offensive ability in 17 games. Score 30 points or more in the game, while still bringing the Kings as the organizer.

He is not free of warts. As we mentioned on Tuesday, he is still a below-average inside shooter, and his performance next to someone like Embiid is somewhat suspicious. He is a willing shooter willing to let the team pay from the inside. , Although you might argue that this may just be a shooting profile issue. As a catcher and pitcher, Fox did a great job in low volume. Last season he had 1.5 catch and shot attempts per game, hitting 39.3% of his three-pointers, and his layups and hits. The rate dragged down his average. In such a world, giving him appropriate responsibilities can reduce Embiid’s burden while still putting Fox in a better position to become a successful shooter, although it may take some time to figure this out and it’s not considered. Other parts of his game. Fox may not be a bad defender in the right situation and with the right staff, but he is disappointed with professional players in this regard.

Halliburton has performed well as a rookie. His outstanding performance since 2021 has dispelled some concerns about his shooting state and has played an excellent spark for the Kings on the bench. Considering his game intelligence and skills to fill gaps early in his career, over time, he is likely to grow into a true changer. However, as we discussed when evaluating a potential trade for a young guard in Cleveland, expecting a 21-year-old player to be your main perimeter promoter is a considerable amount for a team that wants to compete. The short-term adverse effect of Joel Embiid (Joel Embiid) peak championship title. From a value or production point of view, he is not a stand-in for Fox.

The demand for the first round of the draft mentioned here is only in a sense that it seems to be a precursor to a larger or more team deal, which seems to be necessary especially If Simmons doesn’t have a player like Fox. If the 76ers can reclaim a few first-round picks from a shaky team like the Kings in exchange for Simmons, then this may be enough (combined with their own picks) to provide the godfather assets to a ball like Washington Portland Team, or even Chicago’s ready-made star talent.

But again, the frame at the end of the Sacramento team is another example of how difficult Simmons’s trading needle is. Broadly speaking, people have a lot of interest in him, especially those teams that want to return to the playoffs after a drought, and/or teams that are in a non-glamorous market. After they really return to the playoffs and revitalize their respective fan bases, they can worry about Simmons’ playoff issues, and the title issue still has a long way to go. However, because their team is watching from the outside, organizations like the Kings will also be extra careful not to let any influential talents they already have leave, thus sabotaging their efforts before the official start of the playoffs.

You can certainly say that if a team like the Kings already has real influencers, they will be able to get closer to the playoffs. But recently, there are many examples of young talents who only need the right combination to turn from a big data player to a playoff performer. Trae Young only needs a better combination of talents and coaching changes to become the engine of the Eastern Conference finals team from the data that has been accused of being hollow. Since Phoenix has assembled something around Devin Booker, any claim that he could not turn his game into a winning situation would seem very stupid in hindsight.

Fox is not at the offensive level of those guys, but he will definitely play from two-way players like Simmons (and vice versa).Simmons is not as long as Those who can help Fox take the next step, even if Sacramento desperately takes the next leap, maybe they will act cautiously under the leadership of Houston’s former Darryl Morey ally, Monte McNair.

Having a large group of 76ers fans aligned with Philadelphia’s established All-Star or bankruptcy goals is the correct attitude, but it is also a narrow view of upgrading the team in the short and long term.If Fox is more accessible than Sacramento, you only need Fox to be more valuable than Simmons some Way, whether in a practical or theoretical sense.If he is more valuable on the court and can push the 76ers further than Simmons, that would obviously be more desirable, but even if he is not that person, you are just betting that you will have more paths and easier time to come. Build a package This The guys of the future (Lillard, Bill, or others) make headlines with Fox instead of Simmons. Given the scattered reports about Houston’s cautious coverage of Simmons as the final headline in the James Harden deal, it would not be crazy to switch Simmons to Fox through this lens alone*.

(*For the record, even after all the ups and downs that happened this summer, I still think that Simmons’s charm is more valuable when you construct a star deal, and think that you can only do this if you really believe that Fox will become. Kind of trading Embiid’s better partner, period.)

In any case, Simmons is not a plug-and-play genius, and you can join teams in the league without considering major reorganizations of roster and identities. He is a unique genius. No matter where he plays, he needs to check the surrounding pawns, which will undoubtedly affect which players the team offers him in trade discussions.

In this case, this may be a controversial issue, and the Kings have no indication that they want Fox to achieve this goal. But be more prepared, “This team is interested in Simmons, but…” until this problem is resolved.

related: The Sixers need to trade Ben Simmons, for him and themselves

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