The Philadelphia 76ers have found themselves in a bit of a rough patch. After starting the season on a high note, health and safety protocols took out a portion of the roster, leaving Doc Rivers heavily undermanned. Between playing shorthanded and guys having to play longer stretches, they have struggled to get back in the win column. Their loss to the Utah Jazz on Tuesday extended their losing streak to a whopping five games.
During halftime of Sixers-Jazz, the national broadcast began discussing Ben Simmons and his stalemate with the organization. It was there that former Sixer Charles Barkley gave his thoughts on why the team should cut their losses with the former No. 1 pick:
“They got to go ahead and get this Ben Simmons thing over with. Because if you had some other players in the trade for Simmons, the team could be more competitive. That's going to be the elephant in the room all year, and you see he got [fined] again today because he wouldn't go on the road trip. Hey man, the marriage is over. Let it go.”
Barkley is correct in some of the things he said, but this is not a school of thought Daryl Morey should follow. Staying patient has been, and remains to be, the correct stance.
While making a move now would make the team more competitive, the Sixers want to be more than that. They feel their window to compete for a championship is open right now, and Morey operates as such. Moving Simmons for a batch of role players and/or draft capital doesn't put the Sixers in a better position to maximize Joel Embiid while he is at his peak.
Yes, the Simmons cloud will hang over the team's head until this saga finally reaches its end. But seeing how the team has conducted itself through it all has allowed the front office to remain patient. Things may look rough now, but when the team was at full strength, they sat atop the conference. Making a panic move because of a losing streak would be the worst-case scenario for the Sixers.
Morey has never been in the camp of trading Simmons just for the sake of doing so, and that won't be changing anytime soon. The team should not be in any rush to trade a disgruntled player who is only in the second year of his max contract extension. Until an offer comes about that puts the Sixers in a better position to contend, Morey will keep the three-time All-Star.
This stalemate will eventually reach its ultimatum, but that doesn't appear to be right now. Until that happens, the goal of a Simmons trade should stay the same as it has been. The NBA season is a marathon. Good organizations do not panic at minor bumps in the road during the early weeks of the season.
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