One of the biggest questions looming over the NBA with training camps opening is, where will Ben Simmons end up? The Philadelphia 76ers point guard is currently not at camp, as he awaits a trade to a new team.
The 76ers are holding out hope that he will return to the team eventually, but with each day, that seems less and less likely. Simmons has made his intentions clear and is in this for the long haul.
Philadelphia can fine him for everything that he misses, but that hasn’t seemed to phase him at all. Simmons wants to play for a new organization and is willing to go to great lengths to get what he wants.
How great of lengths, you ask? According to Ramona Shelburne, it could be the entire season if need be.
“I talked to somebody close to Ben the other day, and they said, ‘What is the purpose of him showing up at this point? With all that has happened in this offseason. If Ben even shows up, let’s say it’s a month from now or two months from now, he has no intention of ever doing that – but what Ben Simmons are you going to get at this point? Mentally, emotionally, spiritually, is he going to be the same guy he was for you in the past few years?”
“Ben Simmons is willing to sit as long as it takes, too. When you talk to people close to Ben, and I say, ‘Worst-case scenario it takes all year, will he sit all year?’ And the answer right now is, ‘Yes.'”
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This would be truly unprecedented if Simmons did in fact sit out the entire season. We have seen players in recent history, such as Anthony Davis with the New Orleans Pelicans and James Harden with the Houston Rockets, at least showed up.
Davis spent a lot of time sitting on the bench awaiting his trade and Harden suited up in eight games for the Rockets. While those situations got ugly in their own ways, they aren’t in the same realm as Simmons, who sounds willing to forfeit his entire $33 million salary to get a trade done.
At this point, it sounds like neither side is going to budge. Based on the quotes provided by Shelburne, Simmons is in this for the long haul. If the 76ers saw this as a lost cause and just wanted to cut their losses, they would have done it already.
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Both sides are dug in and waiting to see who blinks first. Will it be Simmons once he starts missing game checks, or will it be the Philadelphia 76ers once they start playing games and the results aren’t what they are looking for?
