Recent spill has a ghost of the past knocking on the 76ers doors

The Philadelphia 76ers will have a very difficult avenue to traverse in their quest to win the championship. Reason for that is for them to even get scant consideration in title talks, they will first need to sniff the playoffs — a feat that seems pretty unreachable as of the moment thanks to their impressively terrible 3-14 record, good for second-worst in the league.

But to distract you away from the terribly bad, let’s rewind to the time when the 76ers were still savoring the direct results of The Process — a period defined not only by the rise of Joel Embiid to superstardom, but also the concurrent ascent of Ben Simmons as one of the franchise’s pillars in its quest to create a perennial powerhouse.

Unfortunately, that saga ended in the worst way possible, leaving a bitter taste for the entirety of Philadelphia. The 76ers have undergone several changes and iterations in their core since then, but one constant is the fact that the franchise is yet to snap its championship drought.

Is Ben Simmons hinting at desire for 76ers comeback?

According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Simmons reached out to Embiid last summer, hoping to make amends with the 76ers superstar. He’s on an expiring deal and is set to hit the open market next year, so fans are unsurprisingly giving this a lot of color.

Simmons has been one of the biggest disappointments in the NBA over the last few seasons, but so far this season, he has been more available for the Nets. He has shuffled roles from being a starter to functioning as a catalyst off the bench, and while his offensive struggles have persisted, there is little doubt that he has become at least a serviceable piece for them.

His hefty contract — albeit expiring — will always run to his discredit, but if he keeps his level of production up while staying relatively healthy and regaining his aggressiveness as a rim runner, any team could be in line for a bargain bin deal with him when he hits free agency. He is not expected to command a hefty amount anyway, making him a viable low-risk, high-reward targets for teams in need of defense and playmaking.

But should the 76ers be that team who takes a flier on his services? While there could be some credence to taking him in for actual basketball reasons, even for a much lesser degree this time around, there’s just way too much bad history on that end. The city of Philadelphia is not too fond of him, and his relationship with Embiid has never been smooth sailing.