The Philadelphia 76ers have had an interesting offseason, drafting VJ Edgecombe to join their young core of guards to surround Paul George and Joel Embiid with. Despite this, the 76ers don't have a lot in the way of real depth on their roster, and recently, it came to light that the team once toyed with the idea of bringing back an interesting and highly controversial player: Ben Simmons.
Simmons apparently had interest in rejoining the 76ers after his February buyout with the Brooklyn Nets, although he ultimately ended up signing with the Los Angeles Clippers for the rest of the season.
“There had been some overtures, I would say, between Ben Simmons and the Sixers once he was securing a buyout from Brooklyn,” NBA insider Jake Fischer said, per Bleacher Report (via Sportskeeda). “He still has some friends in the area. I believe his brother was living in Philadelphia for a time, and there was some interest from Philadelphia at that point in time.”
Fischer also added that “I can't say I have any updated information on the Sixers' interest in Ben Simmons there. And I do think Embiid and Ben have repaired that type of fracturing that went down behind the scenes as well.”
A potentially wild scenario
The last time we saw Ben Simmons in a Philadelphia 76ers uniform, he was passing up a dunk opportunity against noted elite shot blocker Trae Young in Game 7 of the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals. The 76ers went on to lose that game and series, essentially solidifying that Simmons would no longer be a member of the team moving forward, and he was eventually traded to the Brooklyn Nets in a move that brought back James Harden.
Simmons has spent the better part of the last few years injured, which is not dissimilar to what the 76ers have continued to experience with Joel Embiid, who has been out for the majority of the last two seasons.
Still, it's hard to imagine that the reunion between the two sides would be a tenable solution to their respective issues.
