Sleeper Team in Ben Simmons Sweepstakes Revealed

There's been a lot of speculation about teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Portland Trail Blazers and even the Toronto Raptors, but now another "sleeper" team has emerged in the ongoing trade rumors over where Philadelphia 76ers holdout Ben Simmons could be dealt.

ESPN's Brian Windhorst indicated that the Indiana Pacers could be an ideal trade partner, taking into account both their needs and their assets available.

“I think the sleeper team in this whole situation is the Indiana Pacers,” Windhorst said. “First off, I know that they don’t have an All-NBA player to trade, but they have a bunch of really good players, and … they control all of their picks."

As illustrated on ESPN's The Jump, the Pacers have a number of players whose contracts would make for easy fits to bring back the Simmons $33 million dollar salary, including:

• Malcolm Brogdon ($21.7M)
• Damontas Sabonis ($19.8M)
• Myles Turner         ($18.0M)
• Caris LeVert           ($17.5M)

As Windhorst said, they could “put together an offer that few teams could rival.”

The key for the Pacers, like so many other smaller-market teams, would be the ability to bring in an "elite" player that they otherwise wouldn't be able to.

"They know that they’re never going to be a free agent destination," said Windhorst. "They love the idea of being able to trade for a player like Ben Simmons who they would have team control over.”

Any team that trades for Simmons would have him under contract for no less than four years (and $147 million owing).

Photo Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-USA TODAY Sports