The NBA Draft draws near and we’re keeping an eye on the Sixers, even if we don’t really want to. What a pitiful failure of a playoff run.

Ben Simmons is the hot topic, and here’s another trade rumor, this one from Matt Moore, better known on Twitter as ‘Hardwood Paroxysm’ –

Multiple sources confirmed Sunday that the Toronto Raptors have emerged as a team with “significant” interest in Simmons. One source close to talks said discussions have not been substantial as of yet. Multiple sources including those close to talks said a proposed framework including Raptors guards Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby, and the 4th overall pick in Thursday’s draft for Simmons was rejected by Toronto.

Some league insiders did bring up a more complicated framework. As a preface, this is speculative based on what executives familiar with the situation have said. The Sixers want Bradley Beal, who is at least considering requesting a trade from the Wizards.

The Wizards, multiple sources have said, are aligning toward a full rebuild should Beal ask out…

Okay, first things first –

Kyle Lowry is a free agent, so if the Sixers did something with Toronto and the 35-year-old veteran, it would have to be via sign-and-trade.

Beyond that, I can’t believe Toronto would ever do something like this. No way the Raptors would give up FVV, Anunoby, and #4 overall for Simmons, and even then I’m not sure how it would work money-wise. VanVleet ($19.6 million cap hit) would fit into the hole left by Danny Green and Mike Scott, but Anunoby is set to earn $16 million and Lowry would have to agree to less money than he reportedly wants in order to make the entire thing work out. You’d also have the #4 overall pick making a decent chunk of money, and the Sixers and the Apron would be staring each other in the face with little wiggle room. Daryl Morey would have to make some auxiliary moves to get everything to make sense, of course.

It’s hard to know what’s real and what isn’t, and I was told the Malcolm Brogdon rumor was bullshit, but the draft approaches and we’re standing by to see if the Sixers move Ben Simmons, which feels inevitable at this point.