Oh it totally is a work. And it totally riles up fans who want to believe everything they read (either that Dame wants the team to trade for Simmons OR that Dame wants the team to trade him). It's all noise. Giving up either one of those (Simons or Little) would be a bitter pill, but honestly, neither one is going to be the difference maker this year or next (especially Simons, due to the roster makeup). I'm hedging my bet on Simons, since Little seems to have more nagging injuries that keep him out of games more often than Simons has injury issues. I'd rather give up picks than either one. It also depends on what they honestly think Brown will end up being (not saying he will be better than Little or Simons potentially, but he is taller than both).
Fentress on his pod said Olshey was somewhat resistant to Simmons trades, but everyone in that front office in Portland right now would take on Simmons.
if im daryl morey, im not trading ben simmons for cj mccollum lol ben simmons is much better player and certainly much more valuable to team like portland than cj mccollum (cj mccollum would give phila scoring, but they would lose everything else they had with simmons) if anything, they can have kyrie irving for ben simmons and id much rather have kyrie than cj mccollum, even if hes a nutcase
Plus they already have a better Cj in Seth Curry and Maxey. With Seth actually being a pretty damn good defender as well
I highly doubt Simmons is coming here but maybe we get involved somehow in a three way. I love three ways.
I don't think GMs operate based on what Woj reports. They can go straight to the source, if needed. Woj is getting the message out to fans that a full rebuild in Portland isn't happening.