simmons

Ben Simmons won’t be in a Sacramento Kings jersey anytime soon — if ever — unless the Philadelphia 76ers’ asking price goes down dramatically.

Even if BetMGM has them handicapped as the third-most likely team to land the 25-year-old three-time NBA All-Star whose days in Philadelphia are numbered.

According to a source with knowledge of their situation, the Kings spoke to the Sixers weeks ago and made it clear that neither De’Aaron Fox nor Tyrese Haliburton would not be included in a possible Simmons deal. That stance, the source said, has not and will not change and the internal expectation is that the core of their roster will remain the same heading into training camp later this month. There are no current conversations between the two teams and, barring a drastic change in demands, it appears the Kings are an unlikely landing spot for Simmons.

If there is a Kings deal to be had eventually, Kings guard Buddy Hield and forward Marvin Bagley III have been widely seen as the most likely players to be included. Per the source, the Kings and Sixers have not talked about Simmons since the conversations weeks ago.

The Sixers’ high demands are well known around the league, with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey making it clear to several teams that he’s looking to net a combination of high-level players or elite young prospects in addition to multiple first round draft picks in exchange for the 25-year-old All-NBA talent. To cite one example, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported in late July that the Sixers asked Golden State for Andrew Wiggins, former No. 2 pick James Wiseman, the No. 7 and No. 14 picks in this year’s draft and two additional future first rounders.

But with less than four weeks until camp, and with the revelation this week that Simmons has told the Sixers that he wants out and that he doesn’t plan on reporting to camp if he hasn’t been traded by then, the harsh reality for Philadelphia is that there’s even more incentive for interested teams to remain patient now. Even with Joel Embiid’s Twitter rant on Tuesday, when the Sixers big man professed his love for Simmons and said of their title chances that “we know we’re good enough to win,” the fact remains that this situation is growing more uncomfortable by the day.

(Top Photo: David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)