The Player agrees: i to give his best services, as well as his loyalty, to the Team, and to play basketball only for the Team and its assignees; ii to be neatly and fully attired in public; iii to conduct himself on and off the court according to the highest standards of honesty, citizenship, and sportsmanship; and iv not to do anything that is materially detrimental or materially prejudicial to the best interests of the Team or the League.
As much as Simmons would like to find his way out of Philadelphia, it's unlikely that he will be moved anytime soon. Wojnarowski reported Tuesday that the Sixers have "remained steadfast" in their approach and will only trade Simmons for a player who will allow them to compete for a championship. Multiple reports have indicated that Philly's dream scenario is pairing Damian Lillard with Joel Embiid, but the Trail Blazers star has been adamant about his desire to win a championship in Portland.
After the Hawks eliminated the 76ers from the NBA playoffs, Embiid called Simmons' decision to pass out of an open dunk in the fourth quarter a "turning point" in the contest. He didn't say much about Simmons after that series until he tweeted out his support for his fellow "Process" pick in early September.
I love and hate drama. I love playing with Ben. However, Embiid changed his tune by the end of the month, saying that Simmons' training camp holdout was "weird, disappointing, borderline kind of disrespectful to all the guys that are out here fighting for their lives. He does whatever he wants," Embiid said.
That's those guys' jobs. While Simmons has worked out at the Sixers' facility and participated in some drills, it remains very much unclear how close he might be to returning to game action or even 5-on-5, full-contact work. All indications are that Simmons' camp would still prefer the three-time All-Star be traded, but GM Daryl Morey has made it clear that he will not entertain any underwhelming offers.
For now, the standoff between the two sides looks like it will continue indefinitely, though the Sixers appear very much open to Simmons returning to play for the team, should he deem himself ready to do so at any point.
Simmons personal was fined for missing Thursday's game against the Pistons. The 76ers are apparently growing more and more frustrated with the situation surrounding their three-time All-Star point guard. Simmons has made it very clear that he is not mentally ready to play with Philadelphia quite yet, but it seems that the 76ers are going to try everything they can to get the year-old back on the court.
General manager Daryl Morey has made it clear that he won't accept a below-market deal for Simmons, so it seems that the Simmonsers standoff will continue for the time being.
While it's unlikely, it is possible that the team's fines for missing games could help bring their starting point guard back. Simmons personal has engaged with teammates and coaches but is yet to rejoin the Sixers for any activities or practices, Ramona Shelburne of ESPN reports. Shelburne notes that the Sixers are becoming "increasingly frustrated" with Simmons refusing to accept the organization's attempts to address his mental readiness to play.
The year-old has worked with the Sixers' doctors to address a back issue, but he has not been willing to discuss his mental health -- which he cited last month as the primary reason for his absence -- with the team's medical staff. While the team is hopeful that Simmons will accept the assistance and eventually return to the active roster, Shelburne reports that "there's uncertainty whether [Simmons is] progressing with that same objective.
A trade could still be coming at some point, but GM Daryl Morey has made it explicitly clear that he won't accept a below-market deal for the three-time All-Star. I get to play the game that I love every day at the highest level in the world.
There's far worse things going on the world, so, you know, I'm in a blessed position. If you told me I would never play the game again, that'd be a different story. The two sides were able to move on, but often when a player knows that his team was thinking about trading him, the relationship becomes ruptured. The chatter surrounding Simmons' future in Philadelphia quieted for a while, but it began to buzz again during the postseason. During Philadelphia's first-round series against Washington, Simmons struggled mightily from the foul line -- he shot just for over five games.
Though the Sixers were ultimately able to advance, there was mounting concern among the Philadelphia faithful regarding how Simmons would perform moving forward in the postseason. So, we had to go away from that instead of just giving away free points Ben was more or less aggressive in our series, the first couple games, and then it kind of died down and trickled down from there.
Unfortunately, Simmons' performance from the foul line didn't improve in the second round against Atlanta. In 12 total playoff games, Simmons made just 25 of his 73 attempts from the charity stripe, which equates to 34 percent -- the worst mark in a single postseason in NBA history. Simmons' struggles from the foul line clearly shook his confidence, and that leaked over into other areas of his game.
In the full seven-game series against Atlanta, Simmons took three total shots in the fourth quarter. He didn't attempt a single shot in the fourth quarter of five of the seven games. Down the stretch of Game 7 against Atlanta, Simmons passed out of an open opportunity at the rim in order to avoid potentially drawing a foul and being forced to the line. That play has stuck like a thorn in the side of Sixers fans ever since.
Don't bring it up in a bar in Roxborough unless you're ready for a rabid, profanity-riddled response. The Sixers went on the lose the game, and the series, and afterward Joel Embiid , fair or not, pointed to that particular play as a turning point. I thought the turning point was when we - I don't know how to say it. But I thought the turning point was just, we had an open shot and we made one free throw and we missed the other and then they came down and scored," Embiid said.
That didn't sit well with Simmons, who was also unhappy with comments that Doc Rivers made after the game. When asked if he thought Simmons could be a championship-level point guard, Rivers replied "I don't know the answer to that. Rivers didn't wait too long to qualify the comments he made after Game 7.
There is. And Ben will be willing to do it, and that's the key. Sometimes you have to go through stuff to see it, and to be honest with it. Shortly after the Sixers season came to an end, Simmons' agent, Rich Paul, met with the team's front office regarding Simmons' future in Philadelphia. Paul engaged the Sixers on whether it makes sense to work together to find a trade before the start of next season, but no request was made and the sides are expected to continue talking ahead of the July 29 NBA draft and August free agency, sources said.
The 76ers are committed to keeping Simmons as a central piece of their franchise, sources said. The Sixers' stance has remained the same since -- they want to move forward with Simmons unless they find a trade that makes them better in the present. Before June ended, Simmons decided to pull out of Olympic play for the Australian team in order to focus on individual skill development.
In mid-July, the Sixers opened up trade talks surrounding Simmons with a very high asking price.
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