Sixers Not Considering Trading Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons As Changes Loom

The Philadelphia 76ers are looking to make some changes after their first-round exit in the 2020 NBA Playoffs.

The Sixers wasted no time letting go of head coach Brett Brown on Monday after Sunday’s Game 4 loss to the Boston Celtics in the Walt Disney World bubble. But it appears big names like Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid won’t be on the table.

Sixers general manager Elton Brand on Tuesday said he is “not looking to trade” either star athlete. In fact, he’s “looking to complement them better” on the court.

“They are 24 and 26 years old, respectively,” Brand said during a Zoom conference, per ESPN’s Tim Bontemps. “You try to make that fit as long as you can. They want to be here, they want to be with our organization, and I see them here for a long, long time.”

Simmons missed the entire first-round series with a knee injury. Embiid, meanwhile, averaged 30 points and 12.3 rebounds in the four-game sweep.

“… Missing Ben Simmons — that’s a huge key to us getting swept,” Brand said, via Bontemps. “I would love to see this group with Ben Simmons, but I don’t want to make any excuses. But I think that attention to detail, that energy level, that certain push that we didn’t have at times.”

Added Brand: “… As I’ve been taking a deep dive in where we failed, what went wrong and how we can get better, I felt like we need to strengthen our organization from top to bottom, and that starts with the front office also. Balancing our strengths and analytics and basketball strategy with more basketball minds.”

Sounds like we could see some more changes in Philly before the new season begins, whenever that might be.