Bill Simmons Thinks Bradley Beal Lands With The Sixers

A lot of the Sixers' dream trades often revolve around Damian Lillard. But there was one other name that we constantly attached to the Sixers. And much like Dame, he was a guy who could be hard to tell what he actually wanted. Bradley Beal.

Beal has spent his entire career so far with the Washington Wizards. They have very rarely been good, despite him being a star-caliber player. In 7 straight seasons, he averaged over 20 points per game, and in two of those he was a 30-point-a-night guy. Yet, he has only made the playoffs 5 times in 10 seasons with the Wizards. There have been rumors he wanted out every season. But he never committed to asking out, and thus he has remained in Washington.

But now a big name in the NBA Media is stirring the pot again. Bill Simmons on his podcast is saying he thinks the Sixers are the odds-on favorite to land Bradley Beal this offseason.

With James Harden likely on the way out, the Sixers do need to put a second star next to Embiid. Their options are limited though. Dame could be moved this offseason, but his eyes seem to be set on Miami. There are no true big-name free agents, and the Sixers don't have the cap space to add any of them anyway. It will likely require some type of trade involving Tobias Harris to add a star and have the cap space to pay them.

And Beal could make sense. Tobias Harris's contract is expiring. So that could be alluring to Washington. It lets them move the money, and have it off the books by the end of next year. It is clear they won't be competing anytime soon. A full rebuild is probably what they need. The downside is other than Tobias Harris, the Sixers don't have much to trade. They have already moved most of their tradable first-round picks. And other than Maxey, who they won't trade for Beal, they don't have many young players a rebuilding team would be interested in.

It is also important to remember the source here. bill Simmons has been an important figure in NBA Media, but that doesn't mean he knows what he is talking about. Simmons is a podcaster, not a reporter. He may know people, but this does not feel like a situation where he has a source and is reporting something. Simmons just thinks a trade between the Sixers and Wizards would make sense. And he may be right about that.

Still don't mistake this for something Woj or Shams said. It is something fun to think about though. Beal can still be a prolific scorer. And we saw in the playoffs the Sixers lack that. They don't have a guy who can reliably pick up the scoring slack when Embiid is off. Maxey is great but has had problems with consistency, especially in the playoffs, Beal could give them a guy they know is capable of being a major scoring threat every night.

Simmons saying it doesn't mean anything is actually happening. But it is at least something worth keeping an eye on.

The Sixers have a new head coach. After yet another 2nd round exit, they decided it was time for a coaching change. Doc Rivers was fired, and the head coach search began. Although Daryl Morey told us it would be a long search, it turns out that was not true. Nick Nurse was the first guy the Sixers interviewed. They brought in a couple more guys for an interview, but they went back to the fire interview. A few days back it was reported the Sixers were hiring Nick Norse to be their next coach. And today they introduced Nick Nurse as the next head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.

He spoke to the media for the first time today, giving Sixers fans their first taste of what he is like. but shortly after that, he also joined us on the Best Show Ever. He talked about a range of things. His plans to get more out of Embiid. What type of defense he would run? What he thinks Tyrese Maxey's ceiling could be. Why he chose to coach the Sixers when he reportedly had other offers? What type of person Sixers fans will be seeing in him as the coach And much more.