Simmons will lose up to 31 million this year

[jambr380]

Forget the phrase 'threw him under the bus' and focus more on how Simmons felt after the series. Is he soft? Sure, but it's up to a franchise to coddle their star player. That's just how it is. We also don't know what was said behind the scenes. We do know the media's take on what Doc and Embiid had to say at the time, and bdm seems to have brushed right over that part.

From sources close to Simmons:

According to sources close to Simmons, he’s upset that Embiid seemed to blame him for last season’s playoff loss, when Simmons did not blame Embiid for Embiid’s poor showing in the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He’s frustrated that Rivers didn’t come to see him while he was training in Los Angeles last summer.

I get it, Simmons should be tougher and deal with criticism better, but he isn't and he didn't. The fact that PHI seemed to make the problem worse by painting Simmons in a negative light throughout the process certainly didn't help.

And my main point all along is if they had just traded him - like every team in the history of the world has done - there would be no drama. Ben would be tearing it up with another team and PHI would be doing even better because they would have gotten a high level asset (or assets) to play at the beginning of the season. PHI is to blame in my opinion - they really blew it with one of their franchise players and needed to do a better job at making things better.

Simmons take on the Toronto series is an idiotic PR move.  Embiid was sick for most of that series.  Even so while Embiid shot poorly during the series, the Sixers were something like +89 when Embiid was on court.  In the 7th game, the Sixers were +10 in the 45 minutes Embiid played and -12 in the 3 minutes he was off court.  Embiid and to a lesser extent Butler carried the Sixers that series. 

As for Simmons being a franchise player, ROTFLOL.  Setting aside his skillset limitations, he doesn't have the mentality or work ethic to be a franchise player.  The Sixers mistake was spending so long coddling and trying to accommodate Simmons.

I'm not saying that Simmons' reasoning is valid, but those are his perceived feelings and PHI should have done what they could to make him feel better, rather than push him into most hated player in the NBA territory. You can view a 25 y/o 3X All-Star and All-NBA player as not a franchise player, but those are very solid accolades for such a young player - especially since he contributed to winning.

The thing is, PHI can't have it both ways. If they view him as a franchise player, they should be coddling the hell out of him. If they don't, they should have traded him this past summer. I don't really have a horse in this race either way - I've never been a huge Simmons fan or anything - I just think it's PHI who totally screwed this up. And that's not surprising because they always screw everything up.

[Moranis]

Forget the phrase 'threw him under the bus' and focus more on how Simmons felt after the series. Is he soft? Sure, but it's up to a franchise to coddle their star player. That's just how it is. We also don't know what was said behind the scenes. We do know the media's take on what Doc and Embiid had to say at the time, and bdm seems to have brushed right over that part.

From sources close to Simmons:

According to sources close to Simmons, he’s upset that Embiid seemed to blame him for last season’s playoff loss, when Simmons did not blame Embiid for Embiid’s poor showing in the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He’s frustrated that Rivers didn’t come to see him while he was training in Los Angeles last summer.

I get it, Simmons should be tougher and deal with criticism better, but he isn't and he didn't. The fact that PHI seemed to make the problem worse by painting Simmons in a negative light throughout the process certainly didn't help.

And my main point all along is if they had just traded him - like every team in the history of the world has done - there would be no drama. Ben would be tearing it up with another team and PHI would be doing even better because they would have gotten a high level asset (or assets) to play at the beginning of the season. PHI is to blame in my opinion - they really blew it with one of their franchise players and needed to do a better job at making things better.

Simmons take on the Toronto series is an idiotic PR move.  Embiid was sick for most of that series.  Even so while Embiid shot poorly during the series, the Sixers were something like +89 when Embiid was on court.  In the 7th game, the Sixers were +10 in the 45 minutes Embiid played and -12 in the 3 minutes he was off court.  Embiid and to a lesser extent Butler carried the Sixers that series. 

As for Simmons being a franchise player, ROTFLOL.  Setting aside his skillset limitations, he doesn't have the mentality or work ethic to be a franchise player.  The Sixers mistake was spending so long coddling and trying to accommodate Simmons.

The Sixers were +1 in game 7 with Simmons last year and -2 with Embiid.  And when the game got away from the Sixers, from like 4 minutes to 25 seconds left, Embiid was 0-2 with a turnover.  0 rebounds, 0 points, 1 assist as the Sixers went from a tie game to down 7. 

It is convenient to blame Simmons, but at the time of the pass they were down 2 and Thybulle should have had an and 1, but missed an easy layup and then 1 of 2 from the line.  After that, Simmons was 1 of 2 from the line, he had a steal, and an assist until he was pulled with 54 seconds left and the Sixers down 4 with the ball.

[bdm860]

Forget the phrase 'threw him under the bus' and focus more on how Simmons felt after the series. Is he soft? Sure, but it's up to a franchise to coddle their star player. That's just how it is. We also don't know what was said behind the scenes. We do know the media's take on what Doc and Embiid had to say at the time, and bdm seems to have brushed right over that part.

From sources close to Simmons:

According to sources close to Simmons, he’s upset that Embiid seemed to blame him for last season’s playoff loss, when Simmons did not blame Embiid for Embiid’s poor showing in the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He’s frustrated that Rivers didn’t come to see him while he was training in Los Angeles last summer.

I get it, Simmons should be tougher and deal with criticism better, but he isn't and he didn't. The fact that PHI seemed to make the problem worse by painting Simmons in a negative light throughout the process certainly didn't help.

And my main point all along is if they had just traded him - like every team in the history of the world has done - there would be no drama. Ben would be tearing it up with another team and PHI would be doing even better because they would have gotten a high level asset (or assets) to play at the beginning of the season. PHI is to blame in my opinion - they really blew it with one of their franchise players and needed to do a better job at making things better.

Simmons take on the Toronto series is an idiotic PR move.  Embiid was sick for most of that series.  Even so while Embiid shot poorly during the series, the Sixers were something like +89 when Embiid was on court.  In the 7th game, the Sixers were +10 in the 45 minutes Embiid played and -12 in the 3 minutes he was off court.  Embiid and to a lesser extent Butler carried the Sixers that series. 

As for Simmons being a franchise player, ROTFLOL.  Setting aside his skillset limitations, he doesn't have the mentality or work ethic to be a franchise player.  The Sixers mistake was spending so long coddling and trying to accommodate Simmons.

I'm not saying that Simmons' reasoning is valid, but those are his perceived feelings and PHI should have done what they could to make him feel better, rather than push him into most hated player in the NBA territory. You can view a 25 y/o 3X All-Star and All-NBA player as not a franchise player, but those are very solid accolades for such a young player - especially since he contributed to winning.

The thing is, PHI can't have it both ways. If they view him as a franchise player, they should be coddling the hell out of him. If they don't, they should have traded him this past summer. I don't really have a horse in this race either way - I've never been a huge Simmons fan or anything - I just think it's PHI who totally screwed this up. And that's not surprising because they always screw everything up.

Personally, I think it's too early to judge Philly, while it's easy to judge Simmons at this time.  So that's why Simmons gets a lot of hate now. 

If Philly eventually turns Simmons into Harden, Lillard, Beal or some other star that wasn't originally being offered, then they come off looking like geniuses.  If they settle for the same or a worse deal than has reportedly already been offered after wasting a year of Embiid's prime, then they'll look like idiots and deserve blame.  So the jury is still out on Philly.

And I think you're overestimating how quickly teams react to superstar's trade demands.

In the 2004 offseason, Vince Carter demanded a trade from Toronto, but they didn't trade him until 21 games into the season.

In the 2007 offseason, Kobe Bryant said he wanted to be traded from the Lakers.  Unfortunately for the C's, the Lakers didn't listen.

In the 2010 offseason, Carmelo Anthony requested a trade from the Nuggets, and wasn't traded until a week before the trade deadline.

Before the 2012 season started, Dwight Howard demanded a trade from the Magic, the Magic instead got him to withdraw his trade request and kept him for the whole season and didn't trade him until the next offseason.

Before the 2019 season, Jimmy Butler demanded a trade from the Wolves, but they didn't trade him until 13 games into the season.

In the middle of 2019 season, Anthony Davis demanded a trade and had to wait 6 months and half a season for that to happen.

Before the 2021 season started, James Harden requested a trade, but still had to wait 2 months and 9 games into the season before it happened.


I don't have any problem with Philly waiting for the right deal like many other teams with disgruntled superstars have done in the past.

[Ogaju]

Two points to make here. If Simmons had a physical injury causing him to miss the season, we are not having this conversation. He has a mental injury and of course many do not acknowledge mental health as a real issue.

Second point, I can’t help but think Doc Rivers has something to do with the intransigence of the Sixers in this situation. This is the same guy that led players to Dallas to force a free agent to reverse his commitment to another team. The guy just doesn’t like to lose cherished players and he knows how valuable Simmons is to the Sixers.

Jesus is this first part of this an awful take (and I say that as someone that lost their mom to depression). Simmons has leaked he will be ready to play in a week or two after being traded (physical conditioning). This is not how mental illness works. Secondly, he is not doing the conditions that need to be met to verify his mental illness (which for jobs are pretty minimal, and he is part of an extremely powerful union in the players association). The healthcare company I used to work with worked with a lot of nba players to reduce stigma surrounding mental health including Kevin love and Gordon Hayward. The nba has made a ton of progress on mental health (still some work to go) but there is no way simmons is losing every single game check if he was doing even the bare minimum for treatment. In most cases you only have to provide a monthly update to your employer. His actions make an absolute mockery of the progress that has been made around stigma and for anyone that has had to take disability from work for something related to mental health (which I did after the event with my mom). Please don’t defend this behavior on simmons it’s a really terrible thing. I’ll also add if all the above isn’t showing what a sham this was he has mentioned 8 other reasons before mental health and the timeline connecting his mental health comments and lost paychecks is a straight line.

Also are you aware he recently got caught running full court games with Dion waiters and other former players and was told by his agency to stop doing it cause it was making a mockery of his claims?

If Simmons has a physical injury he would not be subject to this scrutiny and doubt. That is a fact. Part of the scrutiny is because mental health is treated differently from physical health.

The doctors should be left to determine this matter, but if he had a physical injury claim it is prone to much less subjectivity.

LOL.  You mean the doctors that Simmons and Klutch Sports are paying for.

the Sixers should be entitled to evaluation by doctors of their choice and ultimately a determination reached by a neutral adjudicator or adjudicators if there is a dispute.

[Sophomore]

Forget the phrase 'threw him under the bus' and focus more on how Simmons felt after the series. Is he soft? Sure, but it's up to a franchise to coddle their star player. That's just how it is. We also don't know what was said behind the scenes. We do know the media's take on what Doc and Embiid had to say at the time, and bdm seems to have brushed right over that part.

From sources close to Simmons:

According to sources close to Simmons, he’s upset that Embiid seemed to blame him for last season’s playoff loss, when Simmons did not blame Embiid for Embiid’s poor showing in the playoffs against the Toronto Raptors in 2019. He’s frustrated that Rivers didn’t come to see him while he was training in Los Angeles last summer.

I get it, Simmons should be tougher and deal with criticism better, but he isn't and he didn't. The fact that PHI seemed to make the problem worse by painting Simmons in a negative light throughout the process certainly didn't help.

And my main point all along is if they had just traded him - like every team in the history of the world has done - there would be no drama. Ben would be tearing it up with another team and PHI would be doing even better because they would have gotten a high level asset (or assets) to play at the beginning of the season. PHI is to blame in my opinion - they really blew it with one of their franchise players and needed to do a better job at making things better.

Simmons take on the Toronto series is an idiotic PR move.  Embiid was sick for most of that series.  Even so while Embiid shot poorly during the series, the Sixers were something like +89 when Embiid was on court.  In the 7th game, the Sixers were +10 in the 45 minutes Embiid played and -12 in the 3 minutes he was off court.  Embiid and to a lesser extent Butler carried the Sixers that series. 

As for Simmons being a franchise player, ROTFLOL.  Setting aside his skillset limitations, he doesn't have the mentality or work ethic to be a franchise player.  The Sixers mistake was spending so long coddling and trying to accommodate Simmons.

The Sixers were +1 in game 7 with Simmons last year and -2 with Embiid.  And when the game got away from the Sixers, from like 4 minutes to 25 seconds left, Embiid was 0-2 with a turnover.  0 rebounds, 0 points, 1 assist as the Sixers went from a tie game to down 7. 

It is convenient to blame Simmons, but at the time of the pass they were down 2 and Thybulle should have had an and 1, but missed an easy layup and then 1 of 2 from the line.  After that, Simmons was 1 of 2 from the line, he had a steal, and an assist until he was pulled with 54 seconds left and the Sixers down 4 with the ball.

Simmons is a max player. If Tatum passes up a shot like that to let Grant have a crack at it in the 4th quarter of an elimination game, what would this board say?

Larger context: it wasn’t just that shot. Simmons stopped shooting in the 4th quarter of playoffs last year. Just wouldn’t. Might be because he was shooting under 40% from the free throw line for the playoffs and he didn’t want to get fouled.

And it goes back farther than last year. “Simmons has played 19 second-round playoff games, with a total of 154 fourth-quarter minutes. In those 154 minutes, he has attempted a total of 20 shots.” That’s one shot per 4th quarter over 19 games. Players can and do change, but at this point there is a long track record that says Ben Simmons does not want to take a big shot if he can avoid it. https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nba/ben-simmons-postseason-struggles-philadelphia-76ers-joel-embiid

If people want to argue he will get over it, OK, make the argument. But he came up really really short last year in clutch situations in last year’s playoffs, and not for the first time.

[jambr380]

I don't have any problem with Philly waiting for the right deal like many other teams with disgruntled superstars have done in the past.

If PHI wants to wait, then they should just pay him. The reason this has gotten so out of hand is because of the claims of mental illness, the fines, and both sides standing their ground. They are being as petty as Simmons - and they shouldn't be because they are a professional organization and Simmons is a young guy whose feelings are hurt. Sit him, pay him, wait for the right deal, whatever. If they don't deal him at the deadline, then it will be a bad move, regardless. Embiid is literally the MVP favorite this season - you can't waste that.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I don't have any problem with Philly waiting for the right deal like many other teams with disgruntled superstars have done in the past.

If PHI wants to wait, then they should just pay him. The reason this has gotten so out of hand is because of the claims of mental illness, the fines, and both sides standing their ground. They are being as petty as Simmons - and they shouldn't be because they are a professional organization and Simmons is a young guy whose feelings are hurt. Sit him, pay him, wait for the right deal, whatever. If they don't deal him at the deadline, then it will be a bad move, regardless. Embiid is literally the MVP favorite this season - you can't waste that.

So...a professional organization should pay a young player millions up millions for not playing because his feelings got hurt? Please.

[bdm860]

I don't have any problem with Philly waiting for the right deal like many other teams with disgruntled superstars have done in the past.

If PHI wants to wait, then they should just pay him. The reason this has gotten so out of hand is because of the claims of mental illness, the fines, and both sides standing their ground. They are being as petty as Simmons - and they shouldn't be because they are a professional organization and Simmons is a young guy whose feelings are hurt. Sit him, pay him, wait for the right deal, whatever. If they don't deal him at the deadline, then it will be a bad move, regardless. Embiid is literally the MVP favorite this season - you can't waste that.

So you think it's wrong that Philly wants Simmons to play while they look for the right deal?

All those examples I listed, the players still played, and I think most of them still played relatively hard while only a few didn't (looking at you Vince Carter).

Ben Simmons gets no pass from me for being young, he's a professional too, this is everything he wanted (go watch One & Done).  And don't forget Klutch, the puppet master behind all of this, is a professional organization too.  Let's not give them a pass here either.

But I guess we're on different sides.  I see things getting out of hand because of the actions of Simmons and Klutch, you see things getting out of hand because of Philly.  We'll probably never convince each other.