Shams and Woj both reporting that Simmons return to the Sixers is looking more likely as the Sixers and Rich Paul have been discussing it all weekend and have gotten much closer to his return.
If Simmons comes back and actually gives effort, the Sixers will have played this perfectly.
So, essentially, ignore the crying baby and do not give into their demands and eventually, the baby stops crying.
Can you imagine if Simmons and Kyrie were ever teammates?
You forgot the most important part. Withhold his money and wait for his bills to start coming due. With 4 years left on his contract, Simmons didn't have much leverage.
Sure he did. He could have just waited the Sixers out and made them fold, especially since they had already paid him 25% of his salary this year.
So you think he got his 25% of his salary and just stuck it in a bank and stayed at home living frugally? He's got at least 3 houses including a new 17M place in LA that he purchased this summer.
Clearly he and Klutch weren't prepared for the amount of salary being withheld since they met with NBPA shortly after the Sixers stopped paying him. Now they're talking with the Sixers about him coming back even though they were adamant that he wouldn't.
Pretty remarkable that they stopped paying him fully and get away with it. That's something unimaginable in football in Europe. Here if a player really wants to leave, his agent just informs the GM that his player wants a transfer and that he will not report anymore for training. The club has no other option than to keep paying his full salary and try to get an agreement with a team to the liking of the agent. Often the agent even determines which team is suitable for said player. And when a transfer has been done the club receives a bill by the agent for his services.
Thankfully this is still America. How do European football fans feel about players and agents making those power plays?
They don't like it of course. But the agents are running the market. The players hire an agent and the agent receives a fee (sometimes millions) in accordance with the transfer fee. One chairman of a smaller club in the highest league wasn't familiar with how it works in football and was wondering why his club had to pay a big fee for the services of the agent that were beneficiary to the player and not the club, but that's just how it works.
Most topclubs understand the power of agents. They have close connections and often ask an agent to try to make a deal with another club or find a destination for a player that's unwanted. Basically a good agent does the preliminary negotiations between clubs.
Hypothetically, let's say the Celtics have a bad season and Tatum decides he wants to leave to compete for a championship. Could you imagine that Tatum calls his agent (Wechsler) to look for options. Wechsler contacts a number of GM's about their interest in Tatum and what they're willing to offer.
And then one day Stevens gets a call by Wechsler informing him that Tatum doesn't want to play for the Celtics anymore, but that he has two offers. Namely the Sixers who are willing to give up Simmons + 1 picks (or perhaps Maxey) and the Nuggets who are willing to give up Murray + 3 (protected) picks. What do you do? That's something football GM's in Europe sometimes have to deal with.
Apples and oranges for various reasons. Here are some of them: (I bet you already know this stuff, but some non-european posters may not be familiar with european soccer)
1. Not all european leagues are equally glamorous.
There are plenty of soccer leagues/completions throughout Europe. The Premier League is arguably the best national soccer league in the world. The Champions League is hands down the most glamorous transnational league. If a player from a top team in Greece attracts interest from a top team in England, there's no way he's staying in Greece. It would be as if a basketball player would rather stay in the G-League instead of playing in the NBA.
2. Salary cap
Top clubs have way bigger payrolls than weaker clubs. Imagine if the Lakers were allowed to carry 15 massive contracts at the same time. No more vet minimum guys filling out the roster. Just 15 stars, all in their absolute prime. This is the situation in soccer. The players that don't even make the roster for Real Madrid are good enough to start for most of their rivals in the spanish league (hence thay are often loaned out). The elite soccer teams in Europe are way more glamorous than the elite NBA teams.
3. Max contracts
NBA players are paid practically the same money no matter where they play. They may even earn less money if they decide to change teams. For instance, max free agents have to leave plenty of money on the table cause they lose their Bird rights. Soccer players in Europe are often promised gigantic raises and/or signing bonuses (way more lucrative than trade kickers) if their transfer goes through.
4. Exorbitant transfer fees
Soccer players almost never get traded for other players. Their rights are being negotiated for money. Teams are free to spend as much money as they want to strengthen their squad/roster. Obviously, big-market teams can bully weaker teams. This ain't the case in the NBA. Each team is allowed to spend up to ~$6 million per season in trades.
5. The Bosman rule
Players on expiring deals are free to sign a pre-contract agreement with other teams 6 months prior to the end of their current deal. Teams are even more pressured to sell a player on an expiring deal.
Long story short, european soccer is all about money. Personally speaking, it bothers me a lot, hence I stopped following it. I kinda follow only St Pauli. They are
sort of like the Green Bay Packers of Europe. Soccer-wise, they suck big time, but at least they don't operate like a lifeless corporation. Can't say the same thing about the vast majority of professional sports teams (with all due respect, including the Celtics).