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Since the Ben Simmons holdout officially began, new information has come about almost daily. In the opening days of Sixers training camp, a report came out that Ben Simmons no longer wanted to play alongside Joel Embiid for fit reasons. The All-Star center was asked his thoughts on this report Thursday and did not hold back.
Embiid then went on a long rant about how he feels the Sixers have always been built around Simmons' needs, and he doesn't understand why Simmons feels the way he does now. It was also during this time that Embiid cited two major moves made by the front office simply to cater to Simmons. Those being trading Jimmy Butler to the Miami Heat and the signing of Al Horford to a monster deal.
Many speculated that Simmons played a part in Butler not being re-signed by the Sixers, and Embiid's comments pretty much confirmed it. That said, it still begs the question of if Simmons actually did force the front office to move Butler.
Multiple pieces of evidence back up what Embiid said on Thursday. The first being Simmons' situation at the time. Coincidentally, Simmons was due for an extension during the offseason that Butler got traded and Horford got signed. Not to mention Simmons did not actually sign his max contract until after both moves were completed.
How things went down against the Toronto Raptors might also have played a part in Simmons' frustration. Since he stepped foot on the floor for the Sixers, Simmons played the point guard position. That all changed in the postseason against Toronto when Brett Brown decided to have Butler run the offense and move Simmons off the ball. This decision surely rubbed Simmons the wrong way.
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Later that summer, Butler talked about this on JJ Redick's podcast. He said himself that Simmons likely wasn't happy about the decision and had every right to be so. Seeing Butler take the controls from him in the playoffs could certainly make Simmons pressure the front office to move on from their newly acquired star.
Due to the size of Horford's deal with the Sixers, there is little chance they would have been able to acquire the veteran big man and sign Butler to the max contract he wanted. Since Simmons needed a stretch big to cover up his offensive shortcomings, it's clear which move he was in favor of.
The main indicator of Simmons playing a part in that trade is his actions now. We now have a clear view of how he is when his needs aren't met. Seeing the kind of hardball he and his camp are willing to play almost guarantees they had a hand in swapping Butler for Horford. Being extension eligible that same summer, they had all the leverage they needed to make sure the front office made the moves they wanted.
Embiid would not have made those comments if there was no truth to them. Connecting all the dots and knowing what we know now, it's safe to say Simmons costed the Sixers of having a formidable big three for years to come.
