At this point, everybody knows what is going on when it comes to Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers. The disgruntled star clearly wants out and he will not play for the Sixers ever again despite his contract with the team and Philadelphia is looking to find a trade.
However, the Sixers will not trade him for just anything. They are willing to wait this out and see if they can grab a guy like James Harden and continue to grow their team around him and Joel Embiid.
It also means the team is unlikely to seriously contend for a title in this current season. Embiid’s stellar play has given the Sixers some hope, but the odds of them reaching the finals or even the Eastern Conference finals seem slim without another star.
ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, who always has an opinion on these situations, called out managing partner Josh Harris for the ongoing Simmons situation and wasting an otherworldly season from Embiid:
I watched this man come to Philadelphia and in 2013 you hire some dude named Sam Hinkie and gonna announce to the city of Philadelphia ‘We’re gonna lose. On purpose for five years! We got a process plan in place.’ It involved Joel Embiid, it involved Ben Simmons. Did it involve trading away your assets to get Tobias Harris and Jimmy Butler? Did it involve you losing out on Jimmy Butler to Miami? Did it involve Ben Simmons all of a sudden going AWOL on the team? By the way, did it involve Daryl Morey being handcuffed by ownership because there’s no way in hell! Anybody who knows Daryl Morey would look at him and say ‘Excuse me, he isn’t doing anything’. Daryl Morey would pull the trigger on anything because he can’t stand guy that can’t shoot. So why would he like Ben Simmons? Please! This is Josh Harris holding on and telling Daryl Morey hold onto Ben Simmons for dear life or make sure you get this. I’m sorry. It’s a disaster and it reeks from the top down. Josh Harris, owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, clean up your damn act! It’s an embarrassment and you are wasting away the greatness of Joel Embiid because he deserves better.
“It’s a disaster and it reeks from the top down. … It’s an embarrassment and you are wasting away the greatness of Joel Embiid!”@stephenasmith doesn’t hold back on how the 76ers have handled the Ben Simmons trade saga 😳 pic.twitter.com/Zlz55RkQRL
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 29, 2022
The Sixers are still holding out hope that they can convince Simmons to return to the team, but that ship has likely sailed. Embiid is on board with the team’s plan to wait it out and get what they hope they can get for Simmons, but it is risky considering the injuries he has sustained in his career. One doesn’t know how long Embiid will continue playing at such a high level.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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