This situation is KARMA. Darryl Morey ran away from a situation he helped create and didn't want to deal with in Houston only to end up something similar in Philly. The main difference is Simmons isn't his best player and there's more talent on the Sixers left no matter what they get for Simmons.
100% all of this This is going to be an interesting situation moving forward because of the bold. I'm fully expecting the Sixers to be blown up after this season or next. Whether that means Embiid also asking out or firing Rivers, I think people are going to find out Simmons actually did a lot for that team on the court that went unnoticed and unappreciated and isn't at all easily replaced and then they're going to find out...Rivers isn't that good of a coach either and boy they better hope Embiid is healthy because the load is completely on him now.
Simmons was helpful, yes, in a kinda of a Shane Battier way. Just overpaid and overhyped. Here’s the thing: you know who else is a helpful player? Malcolm Brogdon, for example. So if Simmons’ production is missed and is not replaced by say, Brogdon’s, whose fault is it going to be?
If Morey was Smart he would be on the phone with the Pels to do a trade of Brandon Ingram. The Pels need Simmons's defense and passing and the Sixers need Ingram's ability to come to work and not get kicked out of practice. The trade would work well for both teams.
Simmons is A LOT better than Brogdon. Simmons can drag a team to the playoffs on his defense and playmaking alone. Brogdon is a good fringe all-star level player and Simmons is a perennial all-star player. I think Simmons has instantly become massively underrated as a player because of that playoff performance. This is 6'11 PG that plays elite defense. Brogdon just isn't that no matter how good of a PG he is. Maybe if the Sixers get more than Brogdon they can replace him and keep chugging but it's still all on Embiid's back and I don't trust any of those other guys in playoff series to actually help enough for them to even reach the finals. Morey really screwed up in not getting Harden and then again in not getting hometown Lowry.
lol lebron missed playoffs in the west and simmons would drag them to po? i guess anything is possible
simpsons is better than lerbon tbh. that's why stone needs to give mauri whatever he needs for the trade
If Westbrook can drag a team to the playoffs I'm willing to bet Simmons can. Simmons already lead a team to the playoffs in the East, he was their best player his rookie year and was carrying most of the load for that team his first two years before having injury issues. People are really downplaying how good he is because of the narrative surrounding him right now. Yeah, Simmons healthy and happy is a perennial all-star and that's all while being a terrible shooter. Should he develop any kind of shot he turns into an all-NBA first teamer. I'll say it again, this is a 6'11 guy with PG skills and elite top tier defense. People talk about unicorns and all that, this is one of them.
that all sounds great until you factor in that he shoots below 50% from free throws, can’t shoot from outside, and totally disappears in key games. give me Brogdon, who can shoot, play defense, and remains competitive. I don’t see why anyone would want to take on Simmons and his childish headaches
Yeah but...he doesn't shoot below 50% from the line. You can argue that Brogdon is better for team chemistry, might even agree in general terms, that would be true for Philly definitely...but he's not even in the same tier of player that Simmons is. He just isn't. I also do not think he makes the Sixers a team that can win the East. I'd still put them well behind the Bucks, Nets, and Heat and probably still behind the Hawks. I'll add that if you swap Brogdon for Ben, put Ben on the Pacers I think the Pacers are much better than the Sixers like immediately after that trade. I think this is why Morey is desperate to get a star back for Ben because getting Brogdon back isn't going to move the needle. He NEEDS a star player or assets for a star player back but...now Philly has tied itself into this situation where Ben has no trade value because he's being as toxic as possible to his team so the pressure is all on them to trade him and trade him ASAP.
Its not Karma Morey created both situations lol AND HE GETS NONE OF THE BLAME. I need a job like that lol
He is 60% FT shooter who shot 34% last post season. There are around 15 teams who would love to be dragged into post-season by a perennial all-star player that you say Simmons is. That amount of interest is enough to overcome any trade downgrade that a toxic situation creates. Toronto was willing to take a swing at Leonard for just 1 year of superstar level of play despite Leonard being toxic, potentially injury-prone and wanting to go to LA. This makes me think that if Ben Simmons is truly as good as you say he is, then he will always have a trade value where someone like Brogdon will be available to trade for - it will likely go up by mid-season whether he plays or not. And Morey can afford to wait till mid-season. If they make a trade mid-season, 76ers will still make playoffs - they have talent and vocal leaders on that team. And I doubt Embiid will actually have to play any harder than when Simmons was on the team last year to be able to make the playoffs. Maybe out of personal pride of wanting to prove Simmons inconsequential.
Oh, he has trade value, I should correct myself...but I did explain the situation a bit. The situation is such that Philly has the pressure to trade him though and every team knows they have to get rid of him. The teams that want Simmons, Rockets, Spurs, Kings...all teams building, they don't need him now. They can wait just like Morey can. In fact it helps them to wait since getting him now will hurt their draft position surely. The situation they have set themselves up in is not good. The teams interested in Simmons are not the kind of teams going to give up every valuable asset they have for him
Westbrook has only gotten to the playoffs once, without a player on his team clearly better than him (KD) or on his level / slightly better than him (PG13). And that was like, 4 years ago with Oladipo as the second banana. And even then, they lost in the first round to the Rockets in 5. But, during that time, Westbrook was still able to shoot and score, and had no mental block or whatever Ben Simmons has, with regards to offense. If you build the perfect team around Simmons, then maybe he's the piece that can at least carry you to the playoffs. But what team has the assets to trade for his contract and get the right players around him, as Simmons reaches his peak? The team that gets him will either be gutted or will have to wait a long time to contend. He already had the perfect situation as an NBA player. A top 2 center in the NBA? Check. Had great catch-and-shoot player(s)? Check, with Redick, Curry, Green. Had a coach who could act as a lightning rod of blame? Check, in Brett Brown. Had a coach who gets tons of respect from everyone? Check, in Doc Rivers. You could literally want to be the 4th option on offense (Embiid, Harris, Curry) and no one would say "Wow, Ben doesn't want that scoring smoke." You could literally just playmake, play defense, rebound and settle for paint shots. tl;dr He's 6'11'' with PG skills and elite defense, sure. But he's also been put in a position to either succeed (most recent years) or not be blamed (Embiid's injury-filled early years + they tanked a lot) ever since he entered the league. The fact that Simmons is the one to want to break up, is incredibly alarming.
Only the Rockets can wait forever. Kings and Minny are desperate for a playoff berth. I think if by mid season Kings and Minny again to fail expectations, they'd be wiling to gut the team for Simmons
Here is the thing though...he didn't want out. He only wanted out when they told him he was on the trading block. Players usually don't like that. They are actually talking about it on NBA Today right now and Richard Jefferson brought it up exactly the same. They made it publically known they were going to trade him and his response has been "Ok, if you don't want me then I don't want to be here."
