Sources – Philadelphia 76ers withhold $ 8.25million owed to Ben Simmons amid resistance from NBA star

The Philadelphia 76ers did not pay Ben Simmons the $ 8.25 million – 25% of his contract – owed to him on Friday and put that money in an escrow account, sources told ESPN.

Going forward, the 76ers will deduct any fines Simmons incurs as the season progresses. If, or when, Simmons shows up, he will receive the money left over, sources told ESPN.

The next dividing line in this saga will come on Monday, when the 76ers play their first preseason game in Toronto against the Raptors. If Simmons doesn’t return to the squad before this game, he will be fined around $ 227,000 – the same number Simmons will be fined for every game he misses in the future.

Sources told ESPN that during Simmons’ meeting with the Philadelphia executives last month, the team made Simmons understand that this was a possibility – and, at the time, Simmons responded by saying that ‘he understood that and that it would not change his position. either by showing up in Philadelphia, or by canceling their exchange request.

“We’re here for the long haul,” a source close to Simmons told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne this week.

Asked about the possibility of withholding that money from Simmons – who already received an additional $ 8.25 million on August 2, as his contract says he will get two 25% installments of his contract before the start of the season – the Philadelphia basketball operations president Daryl Morey declined to say exactly what would happen but left that possibility open.

“I would say we’re not going to talk about the fine details or things like that, but I would say it’s pretty clearly spelled out in the CBA and in his contract what’s going on,” Morey said during his remarks. Monday preseason press conference. .

As the 76ers returned to court this week – and Simmons didn’t – the temperature of this situation has only risen.

Morey tried to turn it in a positive direction at his press conference on Monday, comparing it to the tumultuous offseason between Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers – only for Rodgers to come back and, the day before that conference call. press, lead Green Bay to a last-second victory over the San Francisco 49ers.

“I think there is a lot of hope,” Morey said. “I would say I watched a player last night lead his team to victory when a thousand pounds of digital ink was spilled on the fact that he would never play for this team again.

“Look, every situation is different, but we’re very optimistic about our ability to make it work here.”

Superstar center Joel Embiid also initially expressed optimism about the reunion with Simmons, saying he was disappointed that the situation had reached the point it had between the two sides but that he still thinks he is could win with Simmons as a co-star.

“Honestly, I would probably say I’m disappointed,” Embiid said. “Because I – look, obviously we didn’t win anything, but just based on what’s been said in the media and you guys are tweeting about your sources and stuff, I would watch it from the way that, look what we ‘ve been able to do … In the regular season, we were so good and so dominant, that we know it works … I am disappointed that we are in this situation … . I’m just disappointed that he’s not here, because he knows that too. He knows that we can win together. ”

Following a subsequent report in The Athletic that Simmons decided he couldn’t, in fact, win alongside Embiid, the big man fired back in a lengthy response to reporters’ question after training Thursday afternoon.

“The situation is disappointing, bordering on disrespecting all the guys here who are fighting for their lives,” Embiid told reporters at the team’s training center in Camden, New Jersey, adding that the idea that the Sixers hadn’t built their team around Simmons was also incorrect.

“I feel like our teams have been built, whether it’s the need to shoot or the stretch 5 and all that, I feel [Simmons] always had it here. And we still have it, “Embiid said, before listing all the 3-point shooters on the list.” … Our teams have always been built around his needs. “

“It was quite surprising to see,” Embiid added, referring to the report. “We will say that even going back to why we signed Al [Allen Iverson]. We got rid of Jimmy [Butler], which I still think was a mistake, just to be sure [Simmons] needed the ball in his hands. This is the decision they made. Like I said, it’s surprising. “

ESPN’s Bobby Marks contributed to this story.