Sixers' stalemate with Ben Simmons continues as trade deadline looms
Breaking news on the Ben Simmons front: Well, there's still no real news.
Pressure continues to mount for the Philadelphia 76ers front office as the NBA trade deadline draws closer and the team still hasn't moved the embattled point guard. But even after team president Daryl Morey met with Simmons' agent on Wednesday, there appears to be no new developments.
Morey has made it clear the Sixers are in the market for a big-name player as part of the trade, but he's made it apparent he won't deviate from a pretty specific list of players in order to make that happen. (That probably has a lot to do with why he's maintained his stance on having zero interest in trading Simmons to the Lakers for Russell Westbrook.)
On the other side of the aisle, Simmons has made it clear he won't be suiting up for the Sixers at any point this season. But given he hasn't played since last summer, he would need a substantial amount of time to get back into game shape for whatever team he goes to — in addition to getting acclimated to a new team mentality and strategy.
There's also the issue with whether prospective teams want to take on Simmons' salary, which carries a remaining three years and $108.8 million. There is no denying that prospective teams have also played a role in the Sixers still not being able to move Simmons and get a top-notch replacement for him.
Long story short is that no one involved in the Simmons debacle is willing to budge. But with that February 10 deadline now less than a month away, something is going to have to give.
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