2020-21-22 Sixers Season

VoteForKalas 2022-01-12 12:45:06 UTC #741

The report from that story that the 76ers are still paying Simmons and not fining him is frustrating to hear from my perspective. It gives his camp leverage and zero incentive to do anything to help resolve the situation. I guess the NBA left it up to the 76ers and has done zippo otherwise.

bigegypt0417 2022-01-12 14:25:02 UTC #742

I think the issue is what are the sixers actually able to do?

He's meeting the demands that were placed on him...I don't really think they have much choice.

VoteForKalas 2022-01-12 17:15:55 UTC #743

I think you are likely correct. How a professional sports league allows a player with multiple years left on his contract to willfully refuse to play for no credible reason and still get paid to sit out is mindboggling.

zambonir 2022-01-12 20:12:51 UTC #744

At the end of the day the Sixers can't seriously want Ben to play for them again. In a vacuum he makes the team better, but it's never going to be an in-a-vacuum situation. The odds of him coming back and it going badly enough to both A) lose them games and B) further damage his trade value, are high.

So that being the case, he doesn't really get any leverage from being paid. They can afford to pay him and they still seem perfectly happy to to keep him until the off-season if they can't get the deal they want. The $ doesn't really change that either way. Their pressure to trade him is solely to make the roster better/use his cap space, not his actual money.

It's obviously still a situation that is hard to take at face value but if we think it's okay for baseball players to get a doctor's note that allows them to take greenies then it's also okay for Ben to get a doctor's note saying his mental health isn't good enough to play. Of course the difference is one is done in order to get a competitive edge and the other... not.

I think if the Sixers saw any value in fining him - or thought they could win a grievance - they would. He's still been fined some.

Of course it is likely going to get interesting again now. Ben and Klutch presumably won't be happy if there's no trade. And the Sixers could also put a clock on this thing and argue he's been given enough time to be "mentally ready." Of course he'd probably "strain" something if it got to that point. Still impossible to imagine him on the court for them.

xogfog 2022-01-13 00:30:56 UTC #745

I think a big three team trade is needed to move Simmons and possibly Harris too in a blockbuster trade. Something like this (could not be completed until Jan 15)

Sixers get: Tyler Haliburton, Buddy Hield, John Collins, Cam Reddish, Deion Wright, Kings 2022 1st round pick

Kings get: Ben Simmons, Hawks 2022 1st round pick (via Thunder)

Hawks get: Tobias Harris, Matisse Thybulle, Shake Milton, Damian Jones, Sixers 2023 1st round pick.

Sixers get an up and coming PG with Haliburton who shoots the three well, more shooting with Hield, a power forward to replace Harris in Collins, plus good depth with Reddish and Wright, plus a better 2022 1st than their pick will be. Wright could also be flipped for some 2022 2nd rounders, which the Sixers lack.

Kings get Simmons, potentially the best player in the trade, plus a 1st round pick in the 2022 draft to replace the one they send to the Sixers..

Hawks get Harris, a PF to replace the disgruntled Collins. a young center in Jones and a plus defender in Thybulle, depth with Milton and a 2023 1st from the Sixers (the price for the extra salary of Harris).

zambonir 2022-01-13 03:48:51 UTC #746

The Sixers are targeting top 25-caliber players for trades, but those kinds of assets have yet to be made available to them in offers, sources said. Some teams have even described the Sixers' asking price for a Simmons' deal as growing in price -- not declining, sources told ESPN.

In terms of Simmons’ eventual availability with a new team, the message has been sent that he would be ready to play after a few weeks of intensified conditioning and court action.

But while making the front-office rounds to get a better understanding of the Simmons studies happening in real time here, I stumbled on this somewhat surprising sentiment: The length (and size) of his contract, which has been seen by the Sixers as a major leverage point and justification for the steep asking price because the threat of free agency delayed, is actually a concern to some.

To review, Simmons has three more seasons and a combined $108.8 million left on his deal after this season (through 2024-25). And the hesitation, it seems clear, has everything to do with the question of whether Simmons can be trusted to actually play like the best version of himself, continue to develop and be a cohesive force with his teammates in ways that he wasn’t always before.

(snip)

So long as the Harris component remains part of the Sixers’ strategy, it’s not only another significant complication in the process but also the kind of thing that leaves rival executives questioning the Sixers’ genuine interest in finding a deal for Simmons now. After all, many have suspected that Sixers president of basketball operations Daryl Morey would rather wait for the Damian Lillard, Bradley Beal or even James Harden types (the Nets star could reunite with Morey this summer via sign-and-trade if he opted out of his deal).

zambonir 2022-01-15 17:47:45 UTC #747

But also, IMO, no way they don't make moves if the goal is to be one of the four best teams, not just one of the good ones. Can they do that without trading Maxey or Thybulle? Figure out a Harris trade? Or will they ultimately pull the trigger on Ben?

zambonir 2022-01-18 18:51:43 UTC #748

Hot take: if you're the Nets, do you even want to be the higher-seeded team after the first round round? Would be hilarious if they went in an 0-2 hole or lost a Game 7 at home.

bigegypt0417 2022-01-20 14:38:14 UTC #749

The shame of the Ben Simmons situation is we're wasting an absolute monster season by Embiid...50 points in 27 minutes last night but this has been his best season to date...

xogfog 2022-01-20 16:01:51 UTC #750

I don't really care much about the regular season. The trade deadline is February 10, hopefully the Sixers will get something done before then and hopefully whatever players they get back can build some chemistry before the playoffs start.

zambonir 2022-01-20 16:52:57 UTC #751

Well, that's still the issue though isn't it? For a while it looked like the Sixers just weren't gonna be good enough (i.e. not a Top 4 seed, which they also aren't now, by a hair). And definitely not NBA Finals material. So you could wait for an off-season deal if you wanted too. If the playoffs started today they'd have to play the Bucks w/o home court. But the East does seem to be there for the taking. As it was in 2019. But going all-in still didn't work in 2019.

It's a lot to balance - making the team better this year, getting good value for Ben that sets the team up for future years, nailing the roles/chemistry, and, it seems, possibly off-loading Tobias so they can still add another huge piece in the off-season.

Is Joel having his best season ever in part because he doesn't have to play with Ben?

bkeich 2022-01-20 17:29:12 UTC #752

My concern is that Embiid is HAVING to do more, not that he couldn’t. The NBA season is a marathon, and we all know that Embiid is rather fragile, his body just wears down. By having to do this much, when other teams superstars hit the playoffs with “stuff” in the tank, we will have a guy that had to give maximum effort to get there.

I could be wrong, but I would rather see Embiid still getting rest days and averaging 25 and 9 than 30 and 11. Drummond is a quality and punishing backup, I hope to see him getting 20 minutes / game down the stretch.

I still think that we should have a few minutes a night with both of them on the court. Tell Embiid to play a little 3 or 4 and crash the boards. We might get every rebound with those two guys on the floor together. It would also let Embiid have some low pressure trips on defense and let him have fun disrupting with his exceptional athleticism.

phillychuck 2022-01-20 17:39:41 UTC #753

Embiid is taking more jump shots this year--both fade-aways and foul line area facing jumpers. That's a lot easier physically than banging down low every play with another 7-foot, 300 lb weightlifter. He is playing the game this year like Kobe and Michael (see yesterday's video), not as much like Shaq. If you didn't see the video, don't miss it:

https://twitter.com/DrewHanlen/status/1483287595639476225?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1483287595639476225%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fthelibertyline.com%2F2022%2F01%2F18%2Fdrew-hanlen-posts-video-comparing-joel-embiid-to-kobe-bryant-and-michael-jordan%2F

xogfog 2022-01-20 19:46:15 UTC #754

And unlike the usual pablum quotes that are put out before every season, Embiid really is in the best shape, he is more serious about being in shape than his first few seasons.

zambonir 2022-01-20 20:03:43 UTC #755

I'm sure last year's shortened season didn't hurt.

But I think bkeich's concern is legit too. Between rest, injuries and the COVID disruptions, he only played 51 games each of the last two years, and 64 (in 2019) is his career high. He's at 33 out of 44 now, so he probably ends up at about that same number. He has yet to make it to a second round at full-strength (be it conditioning or injury), but fingers crossed it happens this year (and beyond).

Philsmania 2022-01-20 22:30:49 UTC #756

Good grief, the Sixers are winning because they now have ex-St. Joe's Hawk Charlie Brown!

https://www.nba.com/player/1629718/charlie-brown-jr

zambonir 2022-01-22 04:48:51 UTC #757

Tough one tonight I gather.

All part of the game, but ICYMI:

https://www.inquirer.com/sixers/76ers-ben-simmons-daryl-morey-nba-trade-deadline-20220120.html

“I think it’s less likely than likely,” Morey said. “But, you know, hopefully I’m wrong. Like, look, it won’t be from a lack of trying. We have a whole team [in the] front office. It’s all we do. We have no other job that matters. It’s all we are working on.”

bigegypt0417 2022-01-24 18:15:03 UTC #758

It seems like the Sixers are now spreading the rumor they will hold Simmons until the off-season to use in a sign and trade...specifically for Harden...I think they may be using this to get Simmons to come back but who knows?

BR using the Athletic story...

zambonir 2022-01-24 18:26:14 UTC #759

I mean, this has been written about multiple times over the past three months, and this latest thing seems to be coming from more than just the Sixers (i.e. other teams, who would not benefit at all from this, are saying the Sixers won't take their offers).

Until the trade deadline passes it is all just posturing - whether it's directed at Ben or directed at teams making an offer. But that doesn't mean it isn't, and hasn't always been, one realistic scenario. Especially if a deal this season costs them Maxey or Thybulle, or just doesn't make the team significantly more likely to win the East.

bigegypt0417 2022-01-24 18:34:36 UTC #760

IMO, this is all directed at Simmons and his camp...if he's serious about never playing here again, it's going to cost him a ton of money and a year of his prime. Ben Simmons seems to have overplayed his hand because he isn't going to force the sixers in to a bad deal and not playing makes it worse for him.

At this point...as a fan...this seems like a lost season in terms of contending but a great developmental opportunity for Maxey and others.