As the 2021-22 season dawns, Ben Simmons isn't backing down from his longstanding threat to ignore the Philadelphia 76ers.
ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported on Tuesday that the three-time All-Star has no plans to report when the Sixers opening training camp a week from now, and is even comfortable with the possibility of forfeiting salary to stay away from the team. Philadelphia president of basketball operations Daryl Morey seems no closer to budging from his steadfast desire to acquire a superstar playmaker in any prospective trade for Simmons, either.
Bottom line, there's no indication the Sixers' untenable marriage with Simmons will end anytime soon, despite his best efforts to force that separation. One way the disgruntled 25-year-old could possibly hasten his departure from Philadelphia, though? Parting ways with agent Rich Paul, a Sixers recently source suggested to Kyle Neubeck of Philly Voice.
One detail I left out from this was the suggestion from a team source that firing Rich Paul (however unlikely) would be one way for Ben to try to rectify what some view as a self-created problem.
“He could just say, ‘my agent talked me into this stupid fucking strategy.'” https://t.co/mJU2qVwwq6
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) September 21, 2021
Paul, an agent power broker without peer, is broadly seen as the architect behind Simmons' fraught strategy of staying away from Philadelphia until the front office finally meets his calls to be traded. The problem with that approach? Simmons' value was already at an all-time low in wake of his disastrous playoff performance, and indefinitely holding out of all team activities only further diminishes the Sixers' leverage in trade discussions.
By refusing to play for Philadelphia, that thinking goes, Simmons is only extending his doomed tenure with the Sixers even longer.
It bears stressing that the idea of firing Paul, shifting strategies and playing good soldier by reporting to training camp next week came from a team source. It's obviously in Philadelphia's best interest if Simmons is the villain of this story, and emphasizing the involvement of a hot-button figure like Paul won't endear him to certain segments of Sixers fans.
Fortunately for Simmons, Philly doesn't get to decide who represents him. It would be shocking if he fired Paul before this ordeal was over, convenience for the Sixers' front office be damned.
Follow Us
Subscribe