Adrian Wojnarowski dropped a bomb on Tuesday when he reported that Ben Simmons won't report to training camp for the Philadelphia 76ers and on top of that, won't ever play for the Sixers again.
This had been the direction things had been trending towards but now it sounds official. If Simmons is truly willing to sit out for good, the Sixers will likely have to trade him at some point.
Per Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com, there is one big factor from the Sixers side of things that could hold up a trade.
Packages involving young players and picks have been there and were there for most of the offseason. They could likely make such a deal tomorrow if they chose. But looking at all the options on the table, the Sixers prefer Simmons being on the floor and playing for them compared to dealing him for offers that cut into their title odds, sources say. The premise of dealing Simmons for assets and developing talent rests on making another more important move down the road, which people with the team have scoffed at recently.
This will be the tight-rope act for the front office of the Sixers to balance. Will anyone be willing to swap superstar for superstar involving Simmons in a trade? And if not, then what does Philly do? As Neubeck noted, plenty of offers have come through involving picks and young players but the 76ers don't want to take a step back.
The problem is it's now clear Simmons isn't returning and other teams know this. It's left quite the mess for the Sixers to try and navigate through.
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