Philadelphia 76ers: Did Ben Simmons affect Collin Sexton extension talks?

In the NBA, players who sign extensions are ineligible to be traded for at least 90 days if their new deals fit the following criteria: Not only did they re-sign with their previous team this offseason, but they got a raise of at least 20 percent, their salary is worth more than the minimum, and their team was over the cap, using Bird or Early Bird rights to sign them.

These restrictors, compiled by the fine folks over at HoopsRumors, limit the movement abilities of virtually every player who signs an extension league-wide until January 15th, as only the OKC Thunder currently sit under the $112,414,000 salary cap.

But why, you may ask, is this relevant to the Philadelphia 76ers? Are some folks really itching to trade Danny Green, Furkan Korkmaz, or Joel Embiid, the only players who signed extensions with the team this offseason?

Well, buckle up, friends, for I have a theory that probably isn’t correct but might just be crazy enough to be true involving an extension that wasn’t offered and the Philadelphia 76ers’ soon-to-be-former point guard.

The Philadelphia 76ers can still trade for an un-extended Collin Sexton.

Being a rebuilding team in the NBA is weird. In theory, the point of any rebuild is to identify and develop top-tier talent and then shift gears towards contention once the base level of talent is strong enough. But how does any team really know which players are worthy of being in said conversation when it’s tough to judge their merits in a completely different context?

Take, for example, Lu Dort of the OKC Thunder.

While giving Shai Gilgeous-Alexander a max contract was a no-brainer, even for a team well out of the win-now mindset, as he’s one of the league’s brightest ascending stars, Dort is eligible for an extension as soon as this season, with his contract set to expire at the end of the next. Do the Thunder give Dort a nine-figure contract extension and somewhat limit their ability to sign free agents a few years down the line? Or do they trade him for even more picks to further the “Great Draft Pick Monopoly of the 2020s?”

Only time will tell, but we do know for sure that Collin Sexton, the eighth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, won’t have to worry about any more preseason extension talks moving forward, as his window to negotiate with the team has passed without an agreed-upon deal moving forward.

But why? Is it because Sexton is one of those players deemed a “bad team stat stuffer” who isn’t worthy of a $100-plus million deal once the Cavs shift from player development to championship chasing? Or could the team simply not find a number that fit what Sexton’s camp was looking for after turning in a career year in 2020-21?

Well, what if the reason Cleveland didn’t give Sexton a max deal – or something in that ballpark – is because they want to keep the “Young Bull” eligible to be traded in a deal for Ben Simmons for the remainder of the calendar year?

I mean, think about it; the Cavs are over the cap, and Sexton will surely be signing a deal with an AAV well over his current number of $6.3 million. Had he signed any sort of big-money deal, he’d have been ineligible to be traded until 2022, when Simmons will likely already be gone.

Would Koby Altman and company seriously risk their relationship with Sexton, not to mention subjecting him to restricted free agency, just to have a chance at Simmons?

In a word? Yes.

While Simmons’ value has undoubtedly dipped due to a plethora of different reasons, especially among Philadelphia 76ers fans, there are still plenty of teams around the NBA who would love to build their future around a three-time All-Star who finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting last season and has flashed occasional brilliance in spurts without Joel Embiid. On the 2021-22 Cavs, Simmons would instantly become the team’s best player and provide the franchise with a legitimate path from which to build on, as opposed to their current strategy of drafting BPA in the hopes of tripping into an identity.

Does a Simmons-led team built around his specific style of play win you 50 games? Maybe, maybe not, but for teams like the Cavaliers, who aren’t particularly cheap or good, it’s certainly a path worth exploring, especially as their post-LeBron holdovers come off the cap, and they can fill out the roster with complementary players.

Okay, cool. Even if it doesn’t sit particularly well with the player in question, keeping the optionality of trading Sexton makes sense for Cleveland, especially since they retain his restricted rights upon the season’s end. But it takes two to tango in the NBA. If Sexton is on the table, would the Sixers be interested?

I guess that depends on the rest of the package.

On paper, Sexton is a prototypical “Philly guy.” He’s a lunchpail, blue-collar player who will work harder than everyone else on his team and give max effort on every single offensive drive, even if some roll their eyes at his ball-hogging ways.

Is Sexton a selfish player who is only concerned with scoring the ball? Or is his “my ball” mentality a byproduct of a passionate player playing on a team without very many scoring options? Sexton did average 4.4 assists per game last season, but he’s not what one would call an elite passer or the sort of player who could set up Embiid with absolute dimes.

Do you want a driver/shooter/scorer who can excel in a pick-and-roll with Embiid? Trade for Sexton. How about a scoring guard who can play off of Tyrese Maxey in a small but dynamic backcourt? Then Sexton might just be your guy too. Do you want an ascending passer who looks primed to become the second coming of Chris Paul? Well, you might just want to look at my personal favorite Simmons trade target, Darius Garland, instead, as Sexton is much more Donovan Mitchell than CP3.

To get any deal with the Cavs done before December 15th, you basically have to take back Kevin Love‘s contract, which isn’t as bad as one might think. Even if Love isn’t the same level player he once was, he can still play fairly well when engaged and could provide value as a hybrid big man capable of playing next to anyone from Embiid to Andre Drummond, Tobias Harris, and Georges Niang. Taking on his contract, which expires at the end of the 2022-23 season, would effectively serve as a negative asset offset by a young star on a rookie-scale contract, which would open up talks to either poach another prospect like Dylan Windler, Dean Wade, or even 2020 fifth overall pick Isaac Okoro, who is basically a Matisse Thybulle clone without the crazy block/steal stats.

Alternatively, the team could always further fill out their war chest with additional draft compensation in a deal centered around Sexton and Love, whether that be one first-round pick, two, or just some pick swaps.

If Daryl Morey really wants to execute a deal with Sexton as the centerpiece, he can surely come out of it with enough flash to get fans stoked, but is the 6-foot-1, 190-pound combo guard really the player he wants to hitch his wagon to in the post-Simmons-era?

That, my friends, is the $177 million question.

Who is Collin Sexton? Is he the guy who recorded 24.3 points and 4.4 assists in 35.3 minutes of action for the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2020-21, or the ballhawk who reportedly doesn’t have too many friends in his locker room? Would he shine playing off of a player like Joel Embiid, where his effort would make him into a cult hero, or would he be exposed as not much more than Shake Milton with expressive facial expressions playing on a championship-caliber team? Either way, by failing to agree to a contract extension before the start of the 2021-22 season, Sexton remains eligible to be traded to the Philadelphia 76ers, or really any team for that matter.