Kind of a slow sports news day. We’ve got the Eagles tonight, and hopefully we see a good amount of Jalen Hurts in preseason game number two.

Meantime, how about a Ben Simmons rumor? This one comes from Jon Krawczynski at The Athletic, who covers the Timberwolves, Vikings, and NBA at large. He writes this about the T-Wolves’ current outlook following their trade for Patrick Beverly:

Beverley’s status as a veteran with playoff experience may also make him a little easier to include in a possible trade offer for Ben Simmons. While certainly not anything close to a headliner, Beverley’s defensive chops and ability to hit open 3s would help Philadelphia a lot more than any combination of Culver and/or Hernangomez.

The Wolves have continued to have discussions with the Sixers on Simmons, sources said, but the lack of win-now assets they could provide the Sixers in their pursuit of a championship has been a hindrance. A third team would almost assuredly have to be brought in to get more immediate impact assets to the Sixers, and that is a complicated endeavor.

That’s the issue with Minnesota. They don’t have the superstar perimeter player the Sixers need. They’ve got D’Angelo Russell and Karl-Anthony Towns as their top guys, neither of whom would move the needle in a way that Philly fans are hoping. Can’t trade for KAT anyway when you’ve got Joel Embiid and Andre Drummond on the roster. And Sixers fans have seen enough of Russell to know he’s not the guy, especially if Damian Lillard might become available.

The Wolves do have some interesting pieces in Malik Beasley (who just got out of jail) and a second-year Anthony Edwards, but like Krawczynski writes, those aren’t “immediate impact assets.” You’d have to tie a third team in, and if Portland wanted to get involved, maybe they take on a couple of young guys and some draft picks and begin a rebuild.

Russell would have to be involved to make the money work, unless Portland got some combination of Beasley/Edwards/Beverly/Tyrese Maxey/Matisse Thybulle, plus draft picks. If you can get Lillard back, you do it, but then there’s the issue of Rich Paul and Ben Simmons likely not wanting to have a damn thing to do with Minnesota, which leads me to believe that his ultimate destination has to be somewhere on the west coast.