The Sixers have simple answers
If Daryl Morey wants to maximize their return on Ben Simmons, they need to listen to who his decision affects most.
About last night…
We're 25 days from the Feb. 10th trade deadline, and the noise surrounding Ben Simmons continues to ramp up. Daryl Morey has imposed some restrictions on what the Sixers must get in return: a top-25 player, or a player on their way into that conversation. If you remember, Morey only deals stars for other stars. This restriction could be hindering the Sixers' ability to get a deal done, because as far as I see it, there's only one person who should be making the final call:
Joel Embiid.
Embiid's play of late (31.8 points, 9.9 rebounds, 53% from the field on 19.4 attempts per game since Dec. 16th) have allowed him to reenter the MVP conversation. He's doing all of this without Simmons.
If no Jaylen Brown or James Harden deals present themselves, the Sixers have two options they should take:
Trade Simmons for a package of helpful players (such as the Kings' rumored offer of Haliburton and Barnes).
Keep Simmons and don't mess anything up.
Embiid's 32 and 12 last night felt like routine. The Heat didn't have Bam, but they were favored to win at home — until Joel showed up and did his thing.
In my opinion, the Sixers should do whatever Joel Embiid wants. He's earned it. No matter who they bring in, he's the guy helping them reach their highest outcome. They were a ridiculous, bouncing Kawhi Leonard shot away from an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2019. Embiid's good enough to get them back there — and in a wide open field, the Sixers should add some help to confirm their contender status. Any player that comes back in a Simmons trade will play more than the zero minutes Ben gave the Sixers.
The Lakers lost to the Nuggets by 37 points. Everyone else is going to trash the Lakers. I'm here to celebrate the Nuggets! Look how cool this play from Bones Hyland was:
If you're going to play with Jokic, you must possess insane spatial awareness and creativity. Hyland has exactly the right blend of funk, jazz, and R&B to fit in Denver. Bones led the Nuggets with 27, Uncle Jeff Green scored 26, and Jokic sat back and dropped a 17-12-13 triple-double.
Jokic is good enough to lift up a Nuggets team without Jamal Murray and Michael Porter Jr. Their ceiling is so incredibly high when healthy, and I hope their group gets a chance to live it out.
Scores, stats, & notes
Raptors 103, Bucks 96 — Pascal Siakam's second career triple-double was a treat: 30 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists. Clutch buckets down the stretch to beat the Bucks.
Trail Blazers 115, Wizards 110 — Anfernee Simons continues to shine: 31 points, 11 assists. 26 of those points came in the first half:
Knicks 117, Hawks 108 — RJ Barrett continues to blossom. In the last nine games, he's averaging 23.7 points and the Knicks are 6-3. If he's going to pop and become the guy New York took at no. 3 in 2019, things change for the Knicks.
Nets 120, Pelicans 105 — James Harden propelled the Nets to victory, putting up 27-8-15. Kevin Durant is undergoing an MRI to find the severity of the right knee injury he suffered in the second quarter. You can watch this video of the injury, it wasn't gross like ankle injuries are:
Sixers 109, Heat 98 — The Heat have this guy Omer Yurtseven who appeared out of thin air and has been balling in Adebayo's absence. Doc Rivers hates him:
Cavaliers 107, Thunder 102 — Darius Garland, again. 18 assists to go with his 27 points. Evan Mobley is still amazing. I love how every box score is led with Garland and the other players in double figures are all 6'11 or taller. Mobley, Allen, Love, Markkanen all shine.
Celtics 114, Bulls 112 — The Celtics move to 22-22 with the victory. Tatum led their balanced attack with 23 & 12 boards. The Bulls, without Ball & LaVine, got a combined 40 points and 15 assists from their backcourt of Coby White and Ayo Dosunmu.
Spurs 101, Clippers 94 — Seven scorers in double figures for the Spurs. Tongue twister. I saw somewhere that the Clippers could get Kawhi back, or they could shut both him and George down for the rest of the season. That would make sense if Oklahoma City didn't have all of their picks.
Nuggets 133, Lakers 96 — Now, the Lakers. Westbrook with zero turnovers! LeBron with 25 and nine assists! Dwight Howard went 6 of 8 from the field! Their fans make great songs! (NSFW)
Mavericks 108, Magic 92 — Shoutout to Marquese Chriss, man. We talked about him yesterday but he earned a two-year deal after balling out during his ten-day contracts.
