Report: Ben Simmons fine with sitting all season if 76ers can't find trade
Ben Simmons, apparently, is still in no rush to get back on the court.
According to ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, Simmons is prepared to sit out the entire season if the Philadelphia 76ers aren’t able to find a trade partner before the deadline next month.
“He does want to move on of course and restart his life and his career, but he’s been going very diligently to see, to do work with his therapist, and I think the sense is if it takes the entire season to trade him, if it takes all year for the Sixers to find a trade that’s acceptable for them, he’s prepared for that,” Shelburne said on ESPN on Monday.
“It sounds unbelievable to think like a guy who is still getting fined for every game, for every practice, for every weight lifting session that he’s missing … He’s OK if he goes the whole season if that’s how it goes.”
More details from Ramona on Ben Simmons:#NBATwitter https://t.co/9KyuOCNLee pic.twitter.com/HCFr0tfokG
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Simmons initially requested a trade before the season started, and then skipped training camp amid a tense standoff with the 76ers. Then in October, Simmons said he wasn’t “mentally ready to play.”
He hasn’t played since, and has been adamant about finding a new team to play for. And, like Shelburne mentioned, he is still being fined for being away from the 76ers.
Despite his desires, though, the 76ers have so far been unable to find any team willing to make a move on Simmons. 76ers president Daryl Morey was reportedly asking a lot in return for him initially, too, something that clearly didn’t help.
There was talk last week of a possible deal with the Sacramento Kings for De’Aaron Fox, per Yahoo Sports’ Chris Haynes, but that was just “exploratory due diligence.”
Simmons is currently in the second year of a five-year, $177 million deal with Philadelphia. The NBA trade deadline is set for Feb. 10 at 3 p.m. ET.
Should Simmons remain in Philadelphia past that point, it sounds like that won’t change anything for him. His time with the 76ers appears done either way.
