2020-21-22 Sixers Season

zambonir 2021-10-03 04:29:55 UTC #601

However, a source expects Simmons to receive all of the money owed to him. The belief is whichever team that acquires him is going to waive the fines the Sixers put in place.

This is ultimately probably true, especially since his full salary has to be offset for cap purposes anyway. And he was already paid $8 million already in the summer so he's not missing any mortgage payments (even if he has them). But is he really prepared to sit until Christmas, if not longer? Are the Sixers prepared to hang around as a possible 5th place team?

rkeden 2021-10-03 15:55:02 UTC #602

The Sixers are not dropping to a 5th place team without Whatshisname. They will certainly be different, will have problems on D without the length and dedication to D by WHN, but they will be quicker and less predictable.If Maxey is ready and that is a big "if", they might be every bit as good. This will be an interesting test for our experienced coach, his staff and the GM. They have a lot of important pieces-- let's see if they can become a cohesive team. It will be fun to watch!

zambonir 2021-10-03 16:48:46 UTC #603

We'll see. Exaggerating slightly, and I certainly don't think they have to finish in fifth place. But even with Ben they weren't sure to finish ahead of the Bucks and Nets this year, so it only takes a couple of more teams putting it together to put the Sixers in the second tier of playoff teams. And they were a sixth-place team in 2020 (with some very different pieces, but also Ben injured a lot).

If you're right, and if Morey agrees with you, they can play this game with Ben until at least Christmas, if not February. But even just a few extra losses in October and the pressure will be on to get this over with. And like Joel says, they are not a better team without him - but especially not without any kind of trade return for him.

Squire 2021-10-11 14:56:04 UTC #604

https://twitter.com/ShamsCharania/status/1447574817138425856

Maybe Simmons is going to report after all. This should be a hoot.

bigegypt0417 2021-10-11 15:07:18 UTC #605

He has virtually no choice but to report. His value is so low the sixers have no real reason to even engage in conversations with other teams. I'm sure the sixers and Simmons agent are working on a roadmap to what moving him will look like if he does report.

Simmons has no leverage.

phillychuck 2021-10-11 16:04:33 UTC #606

Hope he gives full effort when he comes back. Otherwise his value doesn't change and both sides are in limbo.

First step should be a veteran players-only meeting where Embiid, Harris, Curry, Green, etc. lay down the law about what they expect from him. Maybe tough love will be good for him.

allentown 2021-10-11 16:18:53 UTC #607

He doesn't appear to be that kind of guy. What should appeal to him and to the team is self-interest: he makes an effort to be a plus contributor up to the trade deadline and Embiid an other vets volunteer to bend over backward to help him in that regard, and then he is traded at the deadline to a contender. That is the best outcome for everybody.

zambonir 2021-10-11 17:11:56 UTC #608

Does "return to market" really mean he's going to report or does it mean that Paul and Morey are trying to hammer out a three (or even four) team trade that works for everyone, ASAP? They've still got a week. And if he reports but they expect to trade him quickly they might not even want him to dress (he'd probably need a week or two anyway).

VoteForKalas 2021-10-11 18:55:30 UTC #609

I think you know better than that by now

He would only report because he is forced to and will do the bare minimum required to get traded

VoteForKalas 2021-10-11 18:59:53 UTC #610

I totally doubt it and this is not really tough love either. The 76ers are working with his reps to salvage the situation and trade him. They do not need to do that, but have made the judgement, which has merit, that getting him off the roster and getting whatever value we can is best for the organization. Tough love would have been to tell him to stay home, continue the escalating fines and not trade him until we got what we wanted.

zambonir 2021-10-11 19:34:39 UTC #611

There was just no way for the Sixers to win this, and ironically part of the reason that is true is due to Simmons' own flaws and petulance depressing his trade value. At this point they just have to get as much draft pick value as they can, along with cap-matching value that isn't negative (i.e. bad or unflippable players).

I'm still all for trying to make it work if the offers are that bad. Run out the clock until at least the 12/15 trade window. Just play him mostly on the second unit (which isn't bad basketball strategyeither). But would be a tall order, and this does not sound like that's in play.

Someone on Twitter described recently as "Ben Simmons demands trade from team that is desperate to trade him."

bigegypt0417 2021-10-11 21:31:43 UTC #612

That will do nothing for his value...if he comes back and plays at the same level as he did in the playoffs...he'll be on the bench and not get traded.

I'm sure Morey is smart enough to make sure this isn't bad for the team.

bigegypt0417 2021-10-11 21:33:19 UTC #613

If the sixers are getting draft capital, then they have no reason to trade him during the season.

The sixers are not goin to lose more than Ben Simmons is already losing. He could not have made worse decisions than he has already.

zambonir 2021-10-11 21:59:12 UTC #614

On the contrary, they would want the picks to flip them, be it sooner (after 12/15) or later (the deadline). And if it doesn't happen they still have them for the off-season. So you gotta at least have the option, especially if the team simply isn't good enough without Ben. Plus there's obviously significant value in getting this thing over with.

If he did come back I'm sure he'd play well. Less pressure, easier opponents. The flaws would be there (especially if teams kept playing Hack-A-Ben) but so would the good stuff. If Doc hadn't put Green on Young in Game 1 and/or Green and Embiid had been healthy we might not even be having this conversation, it just would have been a small sample/bad series (though maybe it ends up in the same place next round).

zambonir 2021-10-11 22:37:13 UTC #615

Full Athletic story. Does sound like he could be here for a while. Options are basically to be "injured," to shut up and play, or to report/play but be so disruptive (a la Butler and Harden) that the Sixers just want him gone.

bigegypt0417 2021-10-12 02:25:31 UTC #616

Sounds like simmons is already in Philadelphia.

zambonir 2021-10-12 03:08:47 UTC #617

Love that Ben has a house in Moorestown and a fancy Ritz-Carlton condo downtown, wonder how you decide when you want to be three minutes closer to which place.

bigegypt0417 2021-10-12 14:10:39 UTC #618

I think one of the more intersting questions is did his agent even know he was going to show up last night?

From the sounds of it...he may have been unaware. This whole situation seems odd...well...more odd?

bigegypt0417 2021-10-13 14:40:48 UTC #619

Nets take a stand with Kyrie with the support of the players...

zambonir 2021-10-13 17:41:02 UTC #620

It's an odd situation because 28 teams in the league could still trade for him if they wanted (and the Nets wanted), and also New York's rule now only applies to the games, not practice, which I'm not sure even makes much sense (i.e. Kyrie is not endangering the fans or hot dog vendors at the arena more than he'd be endangering his teammates and staff at practice).

Also he claims he is only against the government mandate and isn't anti-vax or anti-science, so if he was traded to a market where there was no mandate, would he voluntarily get it?