At The Athletic, Shams Charania writes that the Boston Celtics have expressed interest in Ben Simmons:

The Boston Celtics have engaged in conversations with the 76ers revolving around Simmons and expressed interest in the 6-foot-11 guard, sources tell The Athletic. Talks have been fluid with no traction as of yet, those sources say. Any potential Simmons deal with the Celtics would have to include All-Star forward Jaylen Brown, an ascending talent who is in the midst of another career season, averaging 25.6 points, 6.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists.

The Celtics are off to a 4-6 start, winning two recent games against Miami and Orlando before losing to Dallas Saturday night. President of basketball operations Brad Stevens admitted to NBC Sports Boston that the organization is “going to find out” if it has the right group of players.

There’s a less than zero percent chance this happens.

Thoughts:

  1. The Celtics are not trading Jaylen Brown in a Ben Simmons deal.
  2. If Ben thinks Philly fans are rough, wait until he gets to Boston.
  3. Is Brad Stevens gonna reunite Al Horford and Josh Richardson with Ben? That worked so well the first time.
  4. Marcus Smart and Dennis Schroder are their ball handlers. Smart makes $14 million and Schroder just under $6 million. They are both free agents after this season.
  5. Stevens did have a ton of success shutting down Simmons over the years. He might be able to unlock his game, considering the fact that he game planned against him really well as a coach.
  6. Ime Udoka obviously knows Ben from his year as a Sixers assistant under Brett Brown.

Regardless, the Sixers should move Ben by the deadline. They are 8-2 without him, playing great basketball, and can really make a push for the title if they bring back the right assets. This doesn’t need to go into the offseason. Daryl Morey, do the deal! Whatever deal it is.