Simmons Wants Trade / Not Going To Report To Camp (CBS Report)

[Moranis]

Houston?....for John Wall?
need to add some salary.

Sixers would be stupid to trade for Wall.  Sixers just need to hold firm and test Simmons resolve to hold out while not getting paid.

Yeah, that strategy doesn’t seem to work in the NBA. Houston tried to hold firm last year and Harden just sabotaged the team in every way that he could think of until they traded him.

Harden reported though and is a former MVP still in MVP form.  That isn't Simmons.

He wasn’t in MVP form when he arrived in Houston 30 pounds overweight, acting as a malcontent on and off the court. Yeah, sure he showed up to collect a pay check and the team eventually had to tell him to just stay home until they could work out a trade.

The numbers Harden put up for Houston weren't that much different for what he did for Brooklyn.  Harden played his last game with Houston on 1/12 and then he was traded to Brooklyn on 1/13.  So they didn't sit him because he was a distraction or even while they finalized the trade.  He played right up until the trade.

“They haven’t made that decision yet, maybe they have made it within the hour, or maybe they’ll make it sometime today or tomorrow, but the situation has regressed to such a degree that as of right now the Houston Rockets are contemplating as to whether or not they’re going to let James Harden just stay home until they find a suitable trade in order to move him out of there.”

Rockets coach Stephen Silas later told reporters that Harden was kept out of practice on Wednesday.

“We felt that it was best for the group and best for James not to come to practice,” the coach said.

Silas added: “There has to be some sort of resolution, whether it’s a complete buy-in at some level or some other way to get it taken care of.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2021/01/13/report-rockets-are-considering-letting-james-harden-sit-out-until-theyre-able-to-move-him/amp/

he was traded like 2 hours after that article came out.  They already were well into working out the final pieces of the trade and finding the other teams, etc.  He missed 0 games.

Are you saying you think it is possible that his final press conference where he said his teammates were not good enough had nothing to do with the trade happening right after? Seems like a fairly wild coincidence. I think that is where he crossed the line and they just accepted the best offer at that point.

He said the team wasn't good enough.  At least that was my recollection.  And maybe it was a contributing factor, but I suspect it was more him tanking the final 5 games he played in Houston that was the bigger issue. And he tanked those games because he didn't want to be there.

Edit: yes here it is https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status/1349207105912381443?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1349208284981563393%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fembedly.forbes.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext2Fhtmlkey%3D3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935schema%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwojespn%2Fstatus%2F1349208284981563393image%3D

James Harden says Rockets are "just not good enough ... I love this city. I literally have done everything that I can. I mean, this situation is crazy. It’s something that I don’t think can be fixed."

Seemed to include himself when he said the Rockets are not good enough (he wasn't wrong either, the Rockets were not good enough to compete last year). 

[Smartacus]

After the series, Rivers was credited with saying that he wasn't sure if the Sixers could win a title with Simmons at point guard.

"That's not what I said, actually," Rivers interjected Wednesday when asked about the comment. "This is when narratives ... and this is what makes our jobs hard. I actually said when the guy asked, guys, I'm not answering that stuff right now. I don't even know how to answer that. So what I was talking about was not answering the question. It had nothing to do with Ben."
I am going to assume that someone in the Philly front office put Doc up to this but man, I could not imagine a way for the 6'ers to look weaker and less cohesive on national T.V..

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32256682/philadelphia-76ers-doc-rivers-wants-convince-ben-simmons-stay

I'm torn on this one.

On the one hand media manipulation and taking quotes out of context has never been more rampant in the blogging error. It make's my blood boil when I listen to a quote and then see it twisted and misrepresented by clickbait thirsty blog children in need of a dopamine fix. We should all mourn the death of nuance and context in the twitter era.

That being said, not sure that I buy Doc's read on the situation either.

Is it possible that Doc was not trying to bury Simmons in his press conference and was merely imprecise with his language? Sure.

But I will say that it seemed more at the time that Doc was feeling so dejected by losing the series the way that they did that he answered the question ("Do you think you can win a championship with Simmons at PG?") truthfully in a rare moment of unabashed honesty in a press conference.

Did "I don't know" refer to Simmons or the team as a whole? Who is to say, but it's a clear example of why it's never a good idea to air team business in a press conference. Doc certainly never said anything to inspire confidence in his young max level player and it left the door wide open for Klutch to come in and burn what was left of the relationship to the ground.

One thing I believe is that this backtracking and shifting the blame off himself (I'm sorry that you all misunderstood what I was saying ) comes across as nothing but weak and brought no value to the 6er's position.

[blink]

After the series, Rivers was credited with saying that he wasn't sure if the Sixers could win a title with Simmons at point guard.

"That's not what I said, actually," Rivers interjected Wednesday when asked about the comment. "This is when narratives ... and this is what makes our jobs hard. I actually said when the guy asked, guys, I'm not answering that stuff right now. I don't even know how to answer that. So what I was talking about was not answering the question. It had nothing to do with Ben."
I am going to assume that someone in the Philly front office put Doc up to this but man, I could not imagine a way for the 6'ers to look weaker and less cohesive on national T.V..

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32256682/philadelphia-76ers-doc-rivers-wants-convince-ben-simmons-stay

I'm torn on this one.

On the one hand media manipulation and taking quotes out of context has never been more rampant in the blogging error. It make's my blood boil when I listen to a quote and then see it twisted and misrepresented by clickbait thirsty blog children in need of a dopamine fix. We should all mourn the death of nuance and context in the twitter era.

That being said, not sure that I buy Doc's read on the situation either.

Is it possible that Doc was not trying to bury Simmons in his press conference and was merely imprecise with his language? Sure.

But I will say that it seemed more at the time that Doc was feeling so dejected by losing the series the way that they did that he answered the question ("Do you think you can win a championship with Simmons at PG?") truthfully in a rare moment of unabashed honesty in a press conference.

Did "I don't know" refer to Simmons or the team as a whole? Who is to say, but it's a clear example of why it's never a good idea to air team business in a press conference. Doc certainly never said anything to inspire confidence in his young max level player and it left the door wide open for Klutch to come in and burn what was left of the relationship to the ground.

One thing I believe is that this backtracking and shifting the blame off himself (I'm sorry that you all misunderstood what I was saying ) comes across as nothing but weak and brought no value to the 6er's position.

Yeah Doc should have probably not even have said "I don't know".  It probably made the situation a little bit worse, but I don't see it was the main issue.  It seems like the main issue is Simmons has a mental block with shooting and scoring in the playoffs.  It's not like if Doc had not have said what he did that all of us and the media would have just forgotten about how bad Simmons was in the playoffs.  It was going to be a major issue no matter what.

Simmons just comes off a huge spoiled brat big baby in all of this.  He is making a LOT of money from Philly.  He obviously has some mental block he needs to address, and he needs to improve his shooting but instead of using this as fuel to get better, he just wants to cut and run.  It is so easy for him just to walk away, but the issue isn't going away until he addresses it himself either in Philly or somewhere else.   His own behavior is part of the reason his trade value is tanking.

[celticsclay]

Houston?....for John Wall?
need to add some salary.

Sixers would be stupid to trade for Wall.  Sixers just need to hold firm and test Simmons resolve to hold out while not getting paid.

Yeah, that strategy doesn’t seem to work in the NBA. Houston tried to hold firm last year and Harden just sabotaged the team in every way that he could think of until they traded him.

Harden reported though and is a former MVP still in MVP form.  That isn't Simmons.

He wasn’t in MVP form when he arrived in Houston 30 pounds overweight, acting as a malcontent on and off the court. Yeah, sure he showed up to collect a pay check and the team eventually had to tell him to just stay home until they could work out a trade.

The numbers Harden put up for Houston weren't that much different for what he did for Brooklyn.  Harden played his last game with Houston on 1/12 and then he was traded to Brooklyn on 1/13.  So they didn't sit him because he was a distraction or even while they finalized the trade.  He played right up until the trade.

“They haven’t made that decision yet, maybe they have made it within the hour, or maybe they’ll make it sometime today or tomorrow, but the situation has regressed to such a degree that as of right now the Houston Rockets are contemplating as to whether or not they’re going to let James Harden just stay home until they find a suitable trade in order to move him out of there.”

Rockets coach Stephen Silas later told reporters that Harden was kept out of practice on Wednesday.

“We felt that it was best for the group and best for James not to come to practice,” the coach said.

Silas added: “There has to be some sort of resolution, whether it’s a complete buy-in at some level or some other way to get it taken care of.”

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.forbes.com/sites/adamzagoria/2021/01/13/report-rockets-are-considering-letting-james-harden-sit-out-until-theyre-able-to-move-him/amp/

he was traded like 2 hours after that article came out.  They already were well into working out the final pieces of the trade and finding the other teams, etc.  He missed 0 games.

Are you saying you think it is possible that his final press conference where he said his teammates were not good enough had nothing to do with the trade happening right after? Seems like a fairly wild coincidence. I think that is where he crossed the line and they just accepted the best offer at that point.

He said the team wasn't good enough.  At least that was my recollection.  And maybe it was a contributing factor, but I suspect it was more him tanking the final 5 games he played in Houston that was the bigger issue. And he tanked those games because he didn't want to be there.

Edit: yes here it is https://twitter.com/espn_macmahon/status/1349207105912381443?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1349208284981563393%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es3_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fembedly.forbes.com%2Fwidgets%2Fmedia.html%3Ftype%3Dtext2Fhtmlkey%3D3ce26dc7e3454db5820ba084d28b4935schema%3Dtwitterurl%3Dhttps3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2Fwojespn%2Fstatus%2F1349208284981563393image%3D

James Harden says Rockets are "just not good enough ... I love this city. I literally have done everything that I can. I mean, this situation is crazy. It’s something that I don’t think can be fixed."

Seemed to include himself when he said the Rockets are not good enough (he wasn't wrong either, the Rockets were not good enough to compete last year).

Obviously he thinks he himself is good enough to win a championship or there would be no reason for him to ask for a trade or play anywhere. This is saying his teammates are not good enough. At the time the rockets are 5 games into a season and had a couple of high profile guys in cousins and wall that probably still thought they were legitimate players (along with guys like tucker and Gordon). That’s not an acceptable thing to say and was probably the final straw in him getting traded. He couldn’t go back in the locker room after that.

[Ed Monix]

If the Simmons/76ers situation doesn’t get resolved by January (obviously highly unlikely), would anyone be willing to do a deal for Ben?

76ers: Smart, Schroder, Nesmith, Celtics 2022 1st Round Pick

Celtics: Simmons

—————————

Horford
Tatum
Brown
Richardson
Simmons

Or

Williams III
Horford
Tatum
Brown
Simmons

Or

Horford
Tatum
Simmons
Brown
Prichard

[slamtheking]

If the Simmons/76ers situation doesn’t get resolved by January (obviously highly unlikely), would anyone be willing to do a deal for Ben?

76ers: Smart, Schroder, Nesmith, Celtics 2022 1st Round Pick

Celtics: Simmons

—————————

Horford
Tatum
Brown
Richardson
Simmons

Or

Williams III
Horford
Tatum
Brown
Simmons

Or

Horford
Tatum
Simmons
Brown
Prichard

far too rich of a package.  if they're still looking to deal Simmons at that point, he's likely either sitting out or continuing to play at a lower level as he showed in the playoffs.  not a fan of Simmons but used to think he had some value.  don't see the value at this point.  needs to prove it and if he does that next season, he's probably staying put or bringing back an all-star if he's finally developed a shot (extremely unlikely)

[Bobshot]

At this point, I can't see Philly getting fair value for Simmons. Which means they are screwed if he won't play for them.

They are in a box--either find a way to keep him or trade him for pennies on the dollar.

The thing about Simmons is he has negatives--aside from his contract. He isn't much of a shooter for what they pay him.

[Moranis]

Rivers is such a 2-faced scumbag.  I can't stand him.  He is just awful as a public persona and a terrible coach.  I have no idea how he keeps getting jobs.

"I don't know that question or the answer to that right now. You know, so I don't know the answer to that."

[td450]

If the Simmons/76ers situation doesn’t get resolved by January (obviously highly unlikely), would anyone be willing to do a deal for Ben?

76ers: Smart, Schroder, Nesmith, Celtics 2022 1st Round Pick

Celtics: Simmons

—————————

Horford
Tatum
Brown
Richardson
Simmons

Or

Williams III
Horford
Tatum
Brown
Simmons

Or

Horford
Tatum
Simmons
Brown
Prichard

far too rich of a package.  if they're still looking to deal Simmons at that point, he's likely either sitting out or continuing to play at a lower level as he showed in the playoffs.  not a fan of Simmons but used to think he had some value.  don't see the value at this point.  needs to prove it and if he does that next season, he's probably staying put or bringing back an all-star if he's finally developed a shot (extremely unlikely)

Don't agree.

We may be the best fit for him in the league. He gives us the passing, ball movement, pace and elite defense, and we don't care about what he can't do because we have the stars who can cover for his deficiencies.

There is a looming question here that the C's would need to resolve first. Does he like playing basketball, but just lacks discipline and competitive toughness, or is he toxic? I'm not super informed on his behavior, but I get the impression its the former.

You either think that he's a bad guy for the team to have around or you do a deal like that.

[gouki88]

If the Simmons/76ers situation doesn’t get resolved by January (obviously highly unlikely), would anyone be willing to do a deal for Ben?

76ers: Smart, Schroder, Nesmith, Celtics 2022 1st Round Pick

Celtics: Simmons

—————————

Horford
Tatum
Brown
Richardson
Simmons

Or

Williams III
Horford
Tatum
Brown
Simmons

Or

Horford
Tatum
Simmons
Brown
Prichard

Subtract Nesmith or the FRP and I'd consider it

[Birdman]

Boston would be last team that Philly would trade Simmons to us..they hate us and vice versa

[nickagneta]

If the Simmons/76ers situation doesn’t get resolved by January (obviously highly unlikely), would anyone be willing to do a deal for Ben?

76ers: Smart, Schroder, Nesmith, Celtics 2022 1st Round Pick

Celtics: Simmons

—————————

Horford
Tatum
Brown
Richardson
Simmons

Or

Williams III
Horford
Tatum
Brown
Simmons

Or

Horford
Tatum
Simmons
Brown
Prichard

Subtract Nesmith or the FRP and I'd consider it

Also, I am pretty sure Schroder can't be traded for a while.

[slamtheking]

If the Simmons/76ers situation doesn’t get resolved by January (obviously highly unlikely), would anyone be willing to do a deal for Ben?

76ers: Smart, Schroder, Nesmith, Celtics 2022 1st Round Pick

Celtics: Simmons

—————————

Horford
Tatum
Brown
Richardson
Simmons

Or

Williams III
Horford
Tatum
Brown
Simmons

Or

Horford
Tatum
Simmons
Brown
Prichard

far too rich of a package.  if they're still looking to deal Simmons at that point, he's likely either sitting out or continuing to play at a lower level as he showed in the playoffs.  not a fan of Simmons but used to think he had some value.  don't see the value at this point.  needs to prove it and if he does that next season, he's probably staying put or bringing back an all-star if he's finally developed a shot (extremely unlikely)

Don't agree.

We may be the best fit for him in the league. He gives us the passing, ball movement, pace and elite defense, and we don't care about what he can't do because we have the stars who can cover for his deficiencies.

There is a looming question here that the C's would need to resolve first. Does he like playing basketball, but just lacks discipline and competitive toughness, or is he toxic? I'm not super informed on his behavior, but I get the impression its the former.

You either think that he's a bad guy for the team to have around or you do a deal like that.

not really.  we don't have enough people to compensate for his lack of offense. 

[nickagneta]

Warriors owner, Joe Lacob, was fined $50,000 for saying GSW won't be trading for Ben Simmons. He never said Simmons' name or that the Warriors wouldn't definitively trade for Simmons, but his comments were pretty clear none the less.

"In some ways, it doesn’t really fit what we’re doing," Lacob told the Chronicle. "He makes a lot of money. And, can he finish games? I don’t know. He’s very talented. The problem is: We have Draymond . Draymond and him are very similar in the sense that neither one really shoots and they do a lot of the playmaking. That’s one issue. The salary structure is another."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/warriors-joe-lacob-fined-50k-nba-ben-simmons-tampering%3famp

[gouki88]

Warriors owner, Joe Lacob, was fined $50,000 for saying GSW won't be trading for Ben Simmons. He never said Simmons' name or that the Warriors wouldn't definitively trade for Simmons, but his comments were pretty clear none the less.

"In some ways, it doesn’t really fit what we’re doing," Lacob told the Chronicle. "He makes a lot of money. And, can he finish games? I don’t know. He’s very talented. The problem is: We have Draymond . Draymond and him are very similar in the sense that neither one really shoots and they do a lot of the playmaking. That’s one issue. The salary structure is another."

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/warriors/warriors-joe-lacob-fined-50k-nba-ben-simmons-tampering%3famp

Pretty funny. Fined for saying no thanks