You can cross the Sacramento Kings off of the list of teams that are trying to bring Ben Simmons on board before the NBA trade deadline. According to a report by Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN, Sacramento has made the decision to stop its pursuit of Simmons for now and turn its attention to trying to find a deal elsewhere in the trade market.
ESPN Sources: The Sacramento Kings – one of the most aggressive teams in the market and once an eager suitor for Philadelphia’s Ben Simmons – have ended pursuit of a deal with the 76ers and turned elsewhere in trade talks. Story soon.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 28, 2022
The hang up, Wojnarowski reports, is that the Kings simply do not believe that the Sixers have an asking price in a Simmons deal that they can meet.
Inside of two weeks until the February 10 NBA trade deadline, the Kings believe the asking price for Simmons is too steep and that a pathway to reaching an agreement with the Sixers doesn’t exist, sources said.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) January 28, 2022
Sacramento has been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Simmons for some time, with previous reports indicating that the teams held very preliminary talks regarding a move that would send De’Aaron Fox to Philly. That, however, never really got off the ground, and while he recently admitted that he could see a path forward that would involve a deal with the Kings, Sixers executive Daryl Morey made clear that it’s more unlikely than likely that Simmons isn’t moved by the trade deadline on Feb. 10.
Despite this, it does not sound like Sacramento — which sits 18-32, 13th place in the Western Conference, and needs to make up a three-game gap to get the 10-seed and a berth in the play-in tournament — is willing to sit back and roll into the second half of the season with this group. According to Wojnarowski, the team’s front office is “determined to reshape their roster and remain engaged on several other fronts.”
