Discussions on Philadelphia 76ers All-Star Ben Simmons future with the franchise began in Chicago this week and consisted of Simmons representative, Klutch Sports CEO Rich Paul, and Sixers management, sources told ESPN.Paul satisfied with president of basketball operations Daryl Morey and basic supervisor Elton Brand at the pre-draft integrate to start evaluating the next actions in Simmons Sixers profession, sources said.Paul engaged the Sixers on whether it makes sense to work together to discover a trade before the start of next season, however no request was made and the sides are expected to continue talking ahead of the July 29 NBA draft and August complimentary firm, sources stated. The 76ers are devoted to keeping Simmons as a central piece of their franchise, sources stated.2 dTim Bontemps20h1 RelatedSimmons, 24, has four years and $147 million left on his contract.After Simmons season ended with a discouraging performance in a seven-game Eastern Conference semifinals loss to the Atlanta Hawks, the Sixers are focused on a summer of work on his shooting. Simmons and coach Doc Rivers fulfilled this week to go over a strategy for improvement, sources said.Despite Simmons scoring a combined 19 points in the final 3 games versus the Hawks, his trade worth in the market is still substantial, sources said.Teams have been utilizing the Chicago pre-draft camp to gauge the Sixers interest in trade packages, sources said, although Philadelphia stays unwilling to break up the tandem of Joel Embiid and Simmons without making the most of a return and tiring all possibilities to enhance Simmons offense, sources said.In his postseason news conference Tuesday, Morey declined to make a definitive declaration on the long-term future of Simmons in Philadelphia.