2020-21-22 Sixers Season

[bigegypt0417]

I really like what Niang has brought to the table...this team seems deeper than last years team and we still don't know what Simmons will add...I would imagine they will try to get him to play away from home during this next stretch of road games.

[phillychuck]

Niang was awful shooting in the first half, but made up for it with a great second half, mostly attacking off the dribble. If he gets hot from 3 he would be a great addition.

I don't think Simmons will ever put on a Sixers uniform again.

[zambonir]

Yeah the "not mentally ready" thing really does seems like a way to stay off the court without violating his contract. But I still think playing gets him closer to his goal of being traded.

[allentown]

I think 'not mentally ready' likely is true. He had the yips about shooting. We know from Lane Johnson, how big the mental issues can be in sports. How easy is it to get over fear of free throws and be able to shoot them with at least minimum acceptable proficiency. Simmons seems as sensitive to criticism as Wentz was and seems to have psyched himself into believing he and Embiid can't play together.

[zambonir]

It's a very fine line. Someone earlier said his issues would likely evaporate if he got traded and that is probably true to some extent. That doesn't mean the issues aren't real.

And he's also well within his rights to decline the team's offer of mental health counseling internally in favor of his own people through the player's association (though I might not say the same of a shooting coach!). But it also does seem to be the thing he is using to to say in contractual compliance (barring another sore back or whatever).

Sources: Simmons refusing 76ers' mental help

[nycphils]

Ben and his agents are just too stupid to see that he’s making it harder to get value in a trade, and that Morey is simply not going to do something that doesn’t make a championship more likely. They really need to comprehend that Morey knows he can fail to win the title just as easily by doing nothing as by doing a poor deal.

[zambonir]

They are a little stupid (and stubborn) about their ability to win this power struggle, but I suspect they know exactly what's what. They are doing this for themselves more than Ben in that sense, though they are also enabling him but not telling him to play. That part is probably on Ben more than Klutch though.

Klutch, if not Ben, also knows this is all just a game until December 15 comes. Then the real battle of wills begins until the trade deadline. Sure, it's possible Morey could let this entire season go by without taking a lesser deal, but still pretty unlikely. If Ben poisons his trade value to the point where you can't even get McCollum for him, let alone Lillard, the Sixers will kind of have to move on because his value will never increase again. At some point flippable draft picks, role players and expiring players can still improve the team, both this year and beyond.

[xogfog]

Meanwhile as Emo Boy Simmons stays out, Sixers beat the Bulls with no Harris or Green and Embiid having a pretty pedestrian game. The win capped a perfect 4-0 home stand. I think the Simmons situation actually is helping bond the team and they are playing hard and the defense has been really good. Curry, in particular has put more on his shoulders and his game is reaching new levels.

[VoteForKalas]

Using educated guesses, it seems clear to me that Simmons never wanted to be with the team ever again, but was persuaded/arm twisted to report so they could claim they did their part and force the 76ers to act. When that failed and Simmons was compelled to go to practice and face the music, Simmons made it miserable for everyone so the 76ers would have to remove him and he could roll out this mental health angle to stay in compliance, but not have to do anything else.

Simmons & his agents are banking that Morey and the 76ers will cave before they do: If the 76ers struggle, internal and external pressure will build on Morey to remove the distraction and/or improve the team, especially as the trade deadline comes closer. Even if the 76ers win without Simmons, the pressure will mount to go all in this season and get whatever value they can for Simmons.

Both sides appear resigned to the inevitability of playing out this well trodden string of moves and countermoves until reality sets in. It is like a badly played chess game headed to a draw.

[phillychuck]

Morey is enough of an SOB with a big ego to stand pat for four years if he doesn't get what he considers fair value. I don't know if Clutch wants Ben sitting that long, or if at some point the Sixers or the NBA will decide to call Ben's bluff on the mental health claims. What he appears to be doing by manipulating the mental health provisions of the NBA contract sort of makes a mockery of people with actual issues.

[zambonir]

I don't think he'll stand pat for more than one year (this off-season at the latest), but Klutch obviously thought he'd cave in one month. A lot will change between 12/15 and the trade deadline but so long as the soap opera isn't affecting the team (quite the opposite, thus far) or they slip into 5th-6th place, the Sixers seem to have the upper hand (though they'd still be better off if he was willing to play, both to help the team and help his value).

[Squire]

Sixers should be nice for about a month. By then it will be obvious to everyone that his condition is just made up petulence (I think its obvious now but whatever). After that I'd stop paying him and start fining him again.

With the Sixers winning the pressure is off of the team. I think I have come around to the view that you just need to make the playoffs and that seeding doesn't matter that much (home court was pretty irrelevant to the Sixers last year). Sixers should be a playoff team without Ben Simmons so Morey should be in no rush.

While some people/media think the Sixers should just take whatever they can get for him (I don't), its also clear that nobody is on Simmons' side of this. No local media, nor national media, nor current players, nor former players, etc.

[nycphils]

Simmons is dead in the water if Maxey is a Fred Van Vleet type performer and the Sixers sustain a top4-5 record in the conference. At that point Morey can let him sit indefinitely.

If Thybulle can also shoot well enough to play 35 min a night he’ll be in real trouble.

[schillingfan]

As I heard on ESPN radio, what is the chance that wherever he ends up eventually, Simmons will not play any games in Philadelphia. He probably won ever set his foot in the city again.

[nycphils]

If that turns out to be true, he is even mentally weaker than I think he is, and I think he’s a total wuss.

[zambonir]

Sixers-Lakers, 2023 NBA Finals, Joel send him crashing to the floor.

[bigegypt0417]

I agree with you here.

Morey isn't going to dump Simmons and if Morey doesn't get useful pieces, Simmons will rot on the sidelines until either the deadline or even right up to the draft next year.

I think Simmons will see the court at some point when the Sixers are on the road. I don't think the NBA or the Sixers are going to let him milk this for much longer.

[bigegypt0417]

I haven't heard anyone use the word "wuss" since i was in my 20's....in the 90s.

[nycphils]

I guess I’m dating myself…which I’m fine with. Would have used a different word but this is a family site.

[zambonir]

Still think it will be hard to go all the way into next off-season. At some point you take the draft picks and/or role players & expiring contracts, likely in a three-way trade of some kind. At some point they may even need the roster spot - or the cap space.

The problem is he's a depreciating asset to long as he is off the court, and it's not even guaranteed that playing will improve the situation (if he remains unengaged, or struggles, or teams play hack-a-Ben successfully). A month ago it was unthinkable to trade him for Wall, or to settle for CJ instead of Lillard, but he's not going to be worth more in February or July than he is now. Morey isn't really waiting on/playing tough with Ben; he's just hoping the supply side of the market changes.