The relationship between Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers is broken beyond repair. All sides seem aware of this fact and are proceeding accordingly.
There have been multiple reports over the past few days about the "extreme lengths" Simmons is prepared to go to in order to get traded.
These reports just so happen to align perfectly with leaks about Philly trying to move their young star ASAP.
By all accounts, it is clear that the relationship in its present state isn’t working out well for either side. So what happens next?
According to Kevin O’Connor of The Ringer, things on this front could get very ugly extremely quickly, as he said on "The Mismatch" podcast:
“Right now, Philly is in wait-and-see mode. They might take this into training camp, things might get ugly. You will hear the PR statements from Simmons’ side of the media: ‘I want to be here.’ Unless he takes the approach that: ‘I don’t want to be here, I want to be traded’ and things get really gross, really quick and that could accelerate things. Klutch and Simmons could take that path if this goes into training camp.
“In about one month people are going to be coming to training camp… so even though things are quiet today, training camp is right around the corner. It is coming fast, so this stuff could accelerate fast when training camp does begin.”
Simmons’ relationship with his teammates and coaches imploded after a disappointing elimination in the second round of the playoffs at the hands of the Atlanta Hawks.
Not only was Simmons awful in that series, but he was so bad that it led to both his teammate Joel Embiid and head coach Doc Rivers publicly calling him out for his offensive ineptness. That, in turn, led to a war of words between Simmons’ camp and Embiid’s camp which seemingly put the nail in the coffin of their relationship once and for all.
In the months since, Philly’s front office put its asking price for Simmons out there. Up to this point, despite five serious suitors emerging for his services, none have been willing to meet that price.
Barring something changing on that front, the ongoing standoff between Simmons and the Sixers will continue.
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