NBA Wiretap headlines today

Ben Simmons Ruled Out For Entire 16-17 Season

Ben Simmons will sit out the entire 16-17 season.

Simmons underwent surgery on a broken foot in training camp and a most recent scan shows the bone has not fully healed.

Simmons was the top overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft out of LSU. The 76ers also had Nerlens Noel and Joel Embiid miss what would have been their rookie season with Embiid sitting out a second season before returning this year.

"It's not the way you want to start your career, but it happens. We're not excited about the news today," said Bryan Colangelo.

Lakers Advised Not To 'Gut' Team To Trade For Paul George

While the future of Paul George wasn't decided at the deadline, his preference of options became somewhat clear.

George will strongly consider signing with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018 if the Indiana Pacers aren't in contention for a title.

"Here's the issue with Paul George: he's made it clear that if he's going to leave Indiana, he's going home to L.A.," said Wojnarowski. "He grew up in southern California. Big Kobe Bryant fan. His dad is a big Magic Johnson fan. Obviously Magic is running the organization now.

"The direction that I was told that the Lakers got in the last couple of days was 'hey, don't gut your team to go get Paul George.'

"Magic Johnson did lob a call to Larry Bird, but if you're the Lakers and you don't have a tremendous amount of assets, they have some young players they hope will develop. They're going to sit back and wait to sign him as a free agent. They're going to have cap space in 2018.

"If they were to try to trade for him, they would have to give up the core of their team and Paul George is going to have no one to play with there.

"I think this is how the Pacers are looking at this. All things being equal, they know that Paul George would rather be in L.A., but they are not equal."

If George doesn't qualify for the supermax contract, the Pacers can sign him to a five-year, $180 million deal while a rival team can sign him to a four-year, $132 million deal.

The Nuggets were essentially warned that George will sign with the Lakers in 2018 if they trade for him.

Clippers In Talks With Rams On Arena In Inglewood

The Los Angeles Clippers have had multiple discussions with the Los Angeles Rams about building an arena in Inglewood.

Representatives of Steve Ballmer and Stan Kroenke have held talks about an arena that could be on the 298-acre site or an adjacent parcel.

An arena would drive traffic to the planned mixed-use development and share parking. The Rams' $2.6 billion staduium will open in 2019.

The Clippers' lease runs through 2024 and Ballmer has long had interest in his own arena.

Inglewood is one of multiple sites the Clippers are exploring in a process that started more than a year ago. 

Ballmer would not want to be a tenant and therefore would need to own the arena land.

One person with knowledge of the discussions said the Forum would be “protected” as part of an agreement if a competing venue were to be built. The person wouldn’t elaborate on what that would entail.