There is a seemingly pretty logical solution to the Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving situations in Philadelphia and Brooklyn: Just trade the two players for one another. According to a new report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, though, this is not going to happen any time soon, because the two teams have not been in contact about a potential swap.
Wojnarowski reports that the Sixers have canvassed the league in an attempt to find a trade partner for Simmons, but one team they have not called is Brooklyn about an Irving deal. This does make them a bit of an anomaly, because there is interest around the league in acquiring Irving’s services.
Reporting on NBA Countdown on Ben Simmons and Kyrie Irving. pic.twitter.com/tBwxrljKZp
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) October 22, 2021
“Brooklyn, I’m told, has taken incoming calls from teams on Kyrie Irving, but they have not themselves made any calls about Irving,” Wojnarowski said. “So Brooklyn and Philadelphia, with these two players in limbo, they have not talked to each other about a Simmons for Kyrie Irving trade.”
The news comes on the same night that the Nets head down to Philly to take on the Sixers. While there has not been an update on Irving’s situation in quite a while — he’s still not with the team as they prefer he stays at home due to his unwillingness to get vaccinated against COVID-19, which prevents him from playing in games without violating a New York City mandate — Simmons reportedly met with the Sixers’ roster on Friday morning and expressed that he is not in a place mentally where he believes he can suit up for the team.
Source: https://uproxx.com/dimemag/sixers-nets-kyrie-irving-ben-simmons-no-contact-trade-rumors-video/