Report: Sixers Intent on Trying to Convince Ben Simmons to Report
The Philadelphia 76ers open training camp one week from today.
Of course most people believe when the team arrives, one key member will not be there with the rest of his teammates -- Ben Simmons.
According to sources, the team expects Simmons to stick to his guns, and not report to camp on Tuesday, after his relationship with the team became strained following the teams playoff series loss to the Atlanta Hawks.
However per veteran NBA reporter Marc Stein, the team is intent on getting Simmons to report.
While the Sixers have gotten trade offers for Simmons, they have not gotten one that they have been willing to pull the trigger on, so the hope is they can retain his services, fix the relationship on move forward.
There are many avenues this Simmons saga can go down.
1. The team gets an offer they like and trade him.
2. Simmons holds out and the team fines him.
3. Simmons holds out and the team choose not to fine him, trying to repair the relationship.
4. Simmons shows up and tries to improve his value and the team trades him during the season.
5. Simmons shows up and shows an improved game and the team decides they no longer are willing to move him since he came back an improved player.
I've maintained throughout this Simmons saga that Sixers President Daryl Morey will not trade Simmons to make the team different, or just to move him to appease Simmons. I do however, think Morey would move Simmons if he felt it would help the team improve.
I don't think this is the type of deal Morey is looking to make:
To make a deal like this work, the Sixers would need to package another player with Simmons to make the salaries match. Moving Simmons for Wall straight up doesn't interest me, sending Simmons and another player for Wall interests me even less.
Update from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski:
Per Wojnarowski, Ben Simmons will not only not report to Sixers training camp next week, he never intends to play again for the franchise. Simmons has not had any direct communication with the organization and understands the ramifications is he chooses to sit out the season.
As of now, his intention is to never play again for the 76ers again.
As for what the Sixers would like in return, they have asked for a lot. They want pieces that can help them win now, meaning players, not picks, causing a standoff.