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Photo AP / Matt Slocum
Ben Simmons is not planning to show up at training camp for the Philadelphia 76ers next week and is prepared to face any fines and suspensions needed to force a trade.
Adrien Wojnarowski ESPN reported that Simmons “never intended to play another game for the franchise.” He has cut off all communication with the team since an August meeting in Los Angeles where he informed team management of his intention not to attend training camp.
The situation is shaping up to be as toxic, if not more, than when James Harden won in Houston last season. While Harden eventually showed up and played basketball dispassionately until the Rockets were fed up and traded him, Simmons plans to force the Sixers’ hand by not showing up at all.
It would be unprecedented for a player to potentially forgo his salary in order to quit a franchise, especially a salary of $ 33 million. But it is evidence of the relationship between the Sixers and Simmons broken down over the past year, between the team that bought him for Harden and Simmons’ lack of offensive development.
Simmons was the center of criticism after the Atlanta Hawks shockingly knocked out the Sixers in the second round of the playoffs. His struggles at the free throw line sapped his confidence, which resulted in him landing a wide open dunk in the fourth quarter of their loss in Game 7.
Joel Embiid and Doc Rivers both blamed Simmons after the Atlanta loss, with Embiid saying Simmons passing the dunk was the turning point in the game and Rivers saying he wasn’t sure the three-time All-Star could be the point guard. ‘a championship team.
As the Sixers tried to work things out with Simmons once the emotions had cooled, the damage was done. They’ve once again spent most of the offseason trying to buy Simmons for a superstar, doing so with the blessing of him and his agent, Rich Paul. When it became clear that the Sixers weren’t going to get a package to their liking, Simmons and Paul went on the offensive.
A Sixers source told Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice that the team don’t like packages that mainly consist of draft picks and young players:
“There are a few deals you could say, we do, and we’ll bet sometime down the road we’ll take draft picks and turn it into having [a title] luck. But why do that? … there’s no reason to go looking for draft picks now because you could do it all at the same time. Why take the risk of doing this and not being able to go back? It doesn’t make sense with Joel in his prime. “
The situation can boil down to a game of chicken. It seems unlikely that the Sixers would trade someone of Simmons’ caliber for less than his full value, but it seems just as unlikely that Simmons will blink and show up for training camp or preseason.
With the regular season less than a month away, the situation will only get more toxic from here on out.
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