According to Dave Early of Liberty Ballers, Philadelphia has had internal discussions with the Oklahoma City Thunder about acquiring Shai Gilgeous-Alexander in exchange for Ben Simmons.

As I wrote yesterday, the talks around a Ben Simmons trade have been heating up, and the Sixers are holding on to their lofty standards for a return. This report confirms that SGA is one of those top 25-30 players that the Sixers have on their list. OKC is years away from contention, and could look to make Simmons their centerpiece of the rebuild while also expediting their “process”.

Unfortunately, their are some tie ups with Gilgeous-Alexander’s contract as he recently signed a massive extension with the Thunder. This may hinder the ongoing discussions for an upcoming trade, but something to keep in mind if things haven’t changed by the end of the season.

SGA has turned himself into one of the league’s bright young stars. This season averaging 21.4 PPG, 4.6 RPG, and 5.0 APG, and would be an incredible change-of-pace guard for the Sixers to lean a lot of their scoring burden on. His outside shot has taken a step back this season, shooting just under 30% from beyond, but has proven that he has the ability and confidence to be a high quality floor spacer. Last year, he made 41.8% of his three-point attempts, attempting 4.9 per game. Gilgeous-Alexander is exactly the type of shot-creating guard the Sixers have been looking for, and could be the answer to their problems if this deal were to be made.

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