Sixers rumors: Ben Simmons relationship is beyond repair

Ben Simmons does not want to play in Philadelphia next season. That much is clear. According to Bleacher Report’s Jason Dumas in a recent appearance on 95.7 The Game, the All-Star point guard has cut off communication from the Sixers organization, even ignoring Joel Embiid’s phone calls.

This comes, of course, after Simmons became absolutely unmoored in the second round of the playoffs, shooting below 40 percent from the charity stripe and famously choking down the stretch of Game 7.

While the Sixers would like to bring Simmons back and repair the relationship, he may give them no choice. Philadelphia is negotiating from a position of strength, but his increasingly public desire to leave puts Daryl Morey in a difficult position. If Simmons were to return, the locker room would be more combustable than ever.

Ben Simmons has put the Sixers between a rock and a hard place. It’s up to Daryl Morey to navigate the choppy trade waters ahead.

Dumas also notes that Simmons is “open to the California teams,” but has no desire to join a bad situation in Toronto or Portland. For the Sixers, that doesn’t really matter. Simmons has four years on his contract. Morey will take the best offer available, as Simmons’ catastrophic playoff performance removed any faint trace of leverage from his side of negotiating table. If the Sixers want to trade Ben to Portland, then Ben will get traded to Portland.

As someone who has spent his time defending Ben Simmons rather vociferously in the past, it’s hard to justify not returning Embiid’s calls. It would appear Simmons — who brought this upon himself with year upon year of stagnation and a complete whiff in Game 7 — is going to go out on the saddest possible note. This is not to say he’s childish, or spiteful, but frankly, he does seem a little bit immature.

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The Sixers have done nothing to destroy the relationship, at least not publicly, aside from Doc Rivers’ very light criticism in the post-game press conference after Game 7. He said he wasn’t sure if Ben Simmons was a championship point guard. He didn’t question whether Simmons was a championship player, just a championship point guard. Rivers has since said he wants Ben back, and clearly Embiid is taking the initiative to try and rebuild trust. It’s Simmons who is distancing himself from a situation he created.

Player empowerment is a great thing. If Simmons wants to play in California, then by all means, he should pull whatever strings necessary to get there. But to ignore calls and sabotage his relationship with the organization — as if he isn’t explicitly responsible for every trade rumor — just feels lame.

There is no reason to put words or emotions in Ben’s mouth. He will, at some point, get to speak for himself. Also, it’s clear the fanbase is done with Simmons, and I would not fault him for wanting to remove himself from that relationship. Even so, there are more graceful ways to handle it than ignoring teammates’ calls and posturing in trade rumors.

If nothing else, the Ben Simmons experience has been thoroughly annoying. It would seem the end is on the horizon.

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