Sixers news: The earliest Ben Simmons can rejoin teammates

Sixers star Ben Simmons has passed his physical after reporting to the team, but he reportedly can't rejoin his teammates until Friday at the earliest.

Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons reported to the team by surprise on Monday, and he has since passed his physical and held a short meeting with the front office and head coach Doc Rivers. Simmons can start working out in isolation with Sixers coaches on Wednesday, but the earliest he can rejoin his teammates is Friday because of NBA's health and safety protocols, according to Bleacher Report's Jake Fischer and ESPN's Ramona Shelburne.

The Sixers have a preseason game on Friday against the Detroit Pistons, but it's too early to tell if Simmons will be available for that or if he even has any intention of playing at all. Shelburne noted the current health and safety protocols:

A player who is fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and who is entering the team environment for the first time needs to return at least one negative result from a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test facilitated by the team before interacting with other players and Tier 1 staffers, according to NBA protocols obtained by ESPN's Bobby Marks.

An unvaccinated player must return two negative tests before returning to the facility and participating in individual workouts where no other player is present. If the player returns two more negative rapid molecular tests, he could then be cleared to interact with teammates and staff.

NBA analyst Nate Duncan speculates that Simmons is unvaccinated based on all this information, though this has not been confirmed.

Either way, it will be a few days before Simmons can rejoin his teammates. Again, it's still unclear if the three-time All-Star has any intention of playing for the Sixers again, but the team has a plan in place to try to get back in his good graces.

Per Fischer:

The team has individual film and weight training sessions planned. Philadelphia has consulted with various sports psychologists in the previous weeks, and the team believes it has bolstered the resources Simmons has available to improve his game, particularly by hiring a new shooting and skills coach. It would seem likely that Philadelphia will make a concerted effort to clear the air with Simmons and his teammates, particularly Joel Embiid.

Philly is pulling out all the stops to try to make this work for now, even if a trade is still the likeliest option down the line.