I have no idea if Freddie Mercury liked the
NBA.
But since the plan here was to talk all things #TradeSZN with the great David Aldridge and John Hollinger, and to analyze the teams that are facing varying degrees of PRESSURE to upgrade their rosters, let’s start with a live look inside most front offices at the moment. The posthumous assist, as you can see below, comes courtesy of the late Queen frontman who had no idea he was belting an anthem for the Ben Simmons situation in Philadelphia.
So before we start assessing the various levels of pressure around the Association, let’s start in the same place we’ve been starting for so many months now: The Simmons saga. We know now that Sixers President of Basketball Operations Daryl Morey has been trying to attach Tobias Harris and his monstrous deal ($79.4 million combined in the next two seasons) to various Simmons trades, and that sort of ‘Plan B’ approach is as clear a sign as any that he isn’t enthused about the level of players being offered to this point.
If Philly was finding the kind of top-30 talents that are the top priority here — a la Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal — the talks wouldn’t be evolving to this point. What’s more, Sixers big man
