Ben Simmons is having one of the worst offseasons of his NBA career. Ever since the final buzzer sounded in Game 7 of their Eastern Conference Semifinals matchup against the Atlanta Hawks, the Philadelphia 76ers point guard has been the target of criticisms—veiled or direct—coming from all angles.
Most notably, Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid's stingy comments following the Sixers' exit appear to have dented their relationship with Simmons. For Matisse Thybulle, his own error in the team's loss should not be excused from the eyes of the fault-finding committee.
Via the TheOldMan&TheThree:
“He was thrown under the bus.. I lost us the game, which lost us the series & no one really spoke about it. They wanted to talk about passing up the dunk & passing it to me more than my foul.”
Thybulle makes a point. However, Simmons' lapses weren't isolated incidents. His lack of assertiveness in crucial stretches during the game stuck out like a sore thumb. It was mind-boggling, to say the least, given what he's capable of as an All-Star caliber player.
Ben Simmons' free-throw woes are notoriously documented. He is a career 59.7% shooter from the charity stripe. However, what concerns the Sixers most is the fact that he's already played four seasons in the NBA and he's been stuck at more or less 60% for three years.
This entire saga has done nothing but tank the former first overall pick's value, making it extremely difficult for the Sixers to find a willing taker for the 25-year-old, regardless of reports suggesting they want to mend things with Simmons.
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