Daryl Morey is back at it, asking for lavish trade packages in exchange for Ben Simmons. The Blazers are the most recent team to deny the Sixers‘ President.
There hasn’t been much in the way of Ben Simmons news, but the release of a rumored trade offer has made its way to the people. According to The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Philadelphia 76ers offered the Portland Blazers a trade that consisted of CJ McCollum, three first-round picks, and three first-round pick swaps.
Unsurprisingly, the Blazers kindly refused Morey’s offer though there is no word if talks are dead or just stalled. This isn’t the first time a team has rejected an out-of-this-world offer from Daryl Morey.
The concept of trading away their second-best player and effective six first-round picks for an imperfect player like Simmons is certainly something the Blazers were never going to consider. This is a typical Daryl Morey tactic.
Morey has a history of making extremely one-sided offers as a negotiation strategy. After making an extreme offer, the two sides will bounce back and forth until there is a deal agreed upon. It’s a bold strategy, one that’s worked well for Morey, and because of that, he’s not particularly beloved among other front offices, at least from a trade perspective.
There is no date attached to this alleged offer, so it doesn’t help in terms of estimating when this will finally end. However, what seems clear is that Simmons is unlikely to be dealt before the start of the season as many believe that Daryl Morey’s true target is Damian Lillard.
The Sixers have no reason to rush as they only get one shot to land the pieces they need in a Ben Simmons trade. With reports that Simmons’ camp is already feeling the effects from his payment being withheld, the Sixers seem to only be gaining leverage at the moment.
