Buddy, Barnes, and a top-5 protected pick swap. Take it or leave it.
I'm genuinely curious to see if Morey blinks. Despite his background in analytics, he prizes star power above all else. He's also stubborn, and has cultivated a reputation for being on the winning end of most trades. Yet Buddy/Barnes/top-5 protected pick is looking more and more like one of the best deals he's going to get before the season opens. And if Simmons really does hold out once regular season play begins, Morey will be lucky to get something along the lines of Buddy/Bagley/top-10 protected pick swap.
So much of me is hoping that McNair is able to opportunistically leverage his way into trading for an all-star caliber talent without giving up any core pieces. Fit issues aside, I still think Fox/Simmons/Haliburton develops into one of the most dynamic and devastating fast breaks in the entire NBA. With Mitchell coming off the bench, that's a core I can believe in. It would take some time and effort to fill in the gaps in the roster with additional shooting, of course, especially if the Kings had to part with Barnes in the deal, but Fox/Simmons/Hali/Mitchell are 25-and-under. The future could be electrifying, and at the very least, there's significant trade value within that core should fit issues overwhelm the possibility of sustained playoff success.
That said, the other part of me kind of wants to see what happens when neither Simmons nor Morey blink. Hah. It's such an unusual situation for an NBA franchise. Everybody involved on the Philly side seems to be digging themselves into the largest possible hole with no guarantee that they'll be able to climb out of it with their reputations intact.