Minnesota Sports Forum

Per Woj: ESPN story on talks progressing toward All-Star Ben Simmons returning to Philadelphia -- as soon as this week:

Wait, this can't be true. We've been told there's no chance of this happening!!

Duke13 wrote:Wait, this can't be true. We've been told there's no chance of this happening!!

Amazing what happened when they hold up millions of dollars what a player will do.

Return to the team, collect his guaranteed money, sandbag the practices/games, continue to wait to get traded... What changed was Klutch Sports being informed that Ben Simmons wouldn't be able to recoup that money from his new team after being traded. They were under the impression that those fines and withheld money could be waived and reimbursed later, respectively. Either way, Simmons won't be there for much longer.

I don't know if there's really any news here. It's always been up in the air whether Ben would return to the 76ers or not, and it's still up in the air. None of us knows what's going to happen, except it's unlikely Ben is going to walk away from all that money. And it's also unlikely Morey is going to accept a deal he finds insufficient. So put those two things together, and my guess is he returns to Philly to start the season. What happens after that depends on what kind of guy Ben is. If he's petty and feels "unvalued", his play will suffer...as will Philly's chances for success. I guess I don't think this will happen. He doesn't seem like that kind of guy to me. I think if (when?) he returns, he will play hard, and his teammates will welcome him back. I think we all know the Philly fans may not be so forgiving, so if Ben doesn't play at a high level, it may get ugly quickly in the City of Brotherly Love. POBOs are going to monitor the situation closely, and offers will come in fast and furious if things go south.

Of course, it's just as likely that Ben plays like he usually does, and the 76ers return to being the 50+ win they have been recently. We just don't know.

Reporting to the team for financial purposes is a lot different than returning and playing (well) for the team.

The Sixers have been desperate to create the impression that Ben might eventually play for the Sixers this season, at least initially. I'm sure Morey and his staff have worked hard to persuade Ben's agent to help create that impression as a way to help facilitate and possibly expedite a trade. Finding out that Simmons can't get the money he loses through fines back from the team he's eventually traded to certainly changed the calculus for the Simmons camp. Nevertheless, I still see Simmons getting traded sometime relatively soon - maybe in November instead of October.

At some point, Morey's going to have to settle for far less than what he's been asking for. If Brogdon, LeVert, a future 1st and a couple 2nd-rounders aren't enough for Morey, then it's hard to see a deal getting done. And if Morey continues to hold out for the improbable, then it will make for an interesting season in Philadelphia. It will get even more interesting if Simmons ends up with an injury. Maybe it will be something like Kawhi's quad injury that kept him out an entire season in San Antonio. Or maybe the knee he previously injured will start to bother him. How much will Simmons work or endure to get back on the court to help a head coach and teammates who threw him under the bus? That's more of a rhetorical question, but I'll answer it anyway with the words, "not very." :) In other words, the Sixers have to trade Simmons and the sooner the better. If Simmons officially returns to the Sixers before the regular season starts, that will give Morey a little more leverage than he has had the past few weeks, but he'll still face a limited market of teams, all of which are fully aware of Ben's limitations and Morey's short list of alternatives.

I'll add that I still think Morey has a shot at swapping Simmons for Lillard, Beal or Fox, but he'll have to be willing to add some significant value to his outgoing package. I don't know what that package would be and it might require a third team, but there's probably a realistic scenario out there somewhere.

WildWolf2813 wrote:

monsterpile wrote:

WolvesFan21 wrote:

papalrep wrote:Kyrie goes to Philly for Ben. Two problem morons moved.

Harden and Durant need the ball, Simmons while a great player isn't great off the ball since he can't shoot and will clog the paint.

I think it's the same here, that we'd be best off trading a DLO versus others because what DLO is good at is with the ball in his hands and creating for others. Can Simmons really pick and roll effectively? He certainly can't pick and pop.

You'd be taking away from Harden and Durant by adding Simmons.

Simmons would be a massive improvement defensively and they have guys like Mills and Joe Harris that would love getting passes from Simmons. Plus Simmons is more likely to be available to play than Kyrie. It won't happen but I think it would actually make basketball sense.

It doesn't make basketball sense for one reason only.


You can't trust James Harden in late game situations in the playoffs. Kyrie Irving on the other hand is incredibly clutch. The Joe Harrises and Bruce Browns are important to the Nets, but nobody wants them taking late game shots. Even with Harden, when the game gets tight, it's a two man show: KD and Kyrie with James Harden setting them up.

Simmons doesn't work because James Harden can't score at the end of games? We are gonna have to agree to disagree on this hypothetical outcome.

Edit: it's hard to be clutch when you can't even play. That's the biggest problem with Kyrie.

All the stuff about the fines is noise. If Paul and Simmons camp didn't know what the ramifications were someone should get fired. The reality is they likely knew exactly what would happen. The money isn't going to change their minds.

I think if Simmons does end up joining the Sixers that's a possible sign a trade is coming. I honestly kinda doubt that happens though.

As for whether or not Simmons puts forth his full effort...yes Simmons is a good basketball player but even a good player will not be as good as they would have been if he had been in camp with everyone etc. It's basically the same roster but he likely won't be as sharp and highly motivated to do well. It would not be surprising if he did t look at good as the player you would expect to see.

Woj on Sportscenter with @notthefakeSVP on how things went down with Simmons tonight: "Elton Brand got a text saying, 'Hey, Ben's outside the building'"