Ben Simmons wants out of Philadelphia

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HomeRunBaker

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It strikes me more as intransigence than stupidity.

Could he have made a deal and avoided this drama? Sure. But is avoiding some drama so important that it's worth taking back 50 cents on the dollar on his second best asset and setting a precedent that a kid with 4 years left on his deal (and far from a top 10 player) can demand out? Would people be applauding Morey today for getting DLo or CJ and a protected first for Ben Simmons in August?
I’m not sure…..if Morey feels Simmons value is increasing due to all of this than yeah I’d probably characterize that as stupid. Like everything else, time will tell but i can’t imagine how he gets more than what has been willing to be given.
 

benhogan

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The best thing Simmons could have done is come in, do some workouts, and say that he hurt his shoulder lifting weights.
he'll be out with hamstring tightness by next week
Without Simmons, Philly can easily win 50 games (pending Embiid's health, but they are probably screwed regardless if he misses a lot of time). Not having Simmons certainly hurts them, but I expect them to play reasonably well and that will cool things down once the season starts.
Vegas has Philly's win total at 50.5, have at it
 

Gash Prex

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Philly thinking they can force Ben Simmons to play and be engaged is some galaxy brain thinking. Should have traded him in the off-season for whatever the best deal - Morey is tanking this season in real time.

Too much distraction to focus on basketball
 

Devizier

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If Philadelphia was seriously looking at packages featuring scrubs like DLO as the best possible return this summer, then this really isn't much worse.
 

EvilEmpire

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I’m not sure…..if Morey feels Simmons value is increasing due to all of this than yeah I’d probably characterize that as stupid. Like everything else, time will tell but i can’t imagine how he gets more than what has been willing to be given.
Morey has to keep Embiid happy too. I think if he was offered something that Embiid liked, he would have taken it. As bad as the situation is, how much worse would it be if Embiid wanted to leave too? Morey may not be able to get "more" for Simmons right now, but when Dec/Jan comes around he might have similar value in a wider range of options that fit better as more players become available for trade.

Sure, it's a gamble. But I don't think the offers he's gotten have been that great so far.
 

Jimbodandy

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I’m not sure…..if Morey feels Simmons value is increasing due to all of this than yeah I’d probably characterize that as stupid. Like everything else, time will tell but i can’t imagine how he gets more than what has been willing to be given.
I'm not saying that he played his hand well at all. This doubling down on busting the kid's balls is stupid and accomplishes nothing. But I think that his calculation is that the offers won't be any worse in December. And not being a patsy in the meanwhile has value.

Silver should be getting involved behind the scenes and greasing the skids here. None of this is good for the league.
 

Cellar-Door

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Morey has to keep Embiid happy too. I think if he was offered something that Embiid liked, he would have taken it. As bad as the situation is, how much worse would it be if Embiid wanted to leave too? Morey may not be able to get "more" for Simmons right now, but when Dec/Jan comes around he might have similar value in a wider range of options that fit better as more players become available for trade.

Sure, it's a gamble. But I don't think the offers he's gotten have been that great so far.
My feel on it is Morey didn't try very hard this offseason because he really thought he might have a shot at Lillard or the like in January. But now he's running into an issue because Simmons' camp was more aggressive about not wanting to return for even half a season than he expected, and Lillard seems happy with the additions POR made, but now the options are by default worse because nobody has cap space and half the matching salary contracts in the league can't be traded until mid-December. So he's stuck in no-man's land... no clear future star target, no real way to get Simmons to play (or play hard), and no fallback options that are even moderately attractive in the trade market. Plus a coach and Star who are doubling down on not wanting the guy back.
 

Cesar Crespo

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I’m not sure…..if Morey feels Simmons value is increasing due to all of this than yeah I’d probably characterize that as stupid. Like everything else, time will tell but i can’t imagine how he gets more than what has been willing to be given.
Some players who can't be traded now will be available in a few months. That's all I got.
 

ManicCompression

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Nobody gets along with Jimmy Butler, he's a psychopath who needs to be told he's the best or he loses it, and in building a self-mythology that he works harder than everyone else at the expense of teammate. not sure Doc (just see everyone who played for him in LA) is well liked by players anymore (if he ever was). One thing to remember, tons of guys don't get along in the league, it just becomes public when someone wants out or leaves (see KG still ignoring Allen years later, Kobe's teammates all hated him, lots of guys just don't particularly like each other, much like any workplace).

Simmons is a bit weird, as a personality, but I think he fits fine a lot of places, he didn't cause issues in PHI until the team tried to trade him, and honestly, the fit thing... everyone who watches PHI has been saying that since day 1, it doesn't work well. I think he'd be great in MIN for example or GS. T
And yet Embiid has indicated he'd rather be playing with Butler than Simmons.

Butler recruited Lowry to Miami, a player that Philly was trying to get, so he's not hated by everyone. Yeah, teams don't all have to get along to be successful but it seems like one criteria is that everyone is on board with getting better, which Simmons is not on board with.

Re: fit - the fit doesn't work because of him. You could slot pretty much any other player in the league next to Joel Embiid and that is a championship quality team. What is the team that Simmons would be a good fit with? Golden State? Okay, so you're trading Draymond for Simmons then, because they can't play together... what is Simmons offering that Draymond doesn't to the Warriors? Better perimeter D and finishing, but worse interior D and shooting. Does that improve the Warriors all that much?
 

Euclis20

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Embiid could always become a much better 3 point shooter, so why is it all on Simmons?
Embiid already creates his own offense, high volume and very efficient, inside the arc. He was 4th in the league in points per game and among guys in the top 20, only a handful were more efficient scorers (Curry, Jokic, Zion). That's not a guy who has to bend his offensive game for anyone, especially considering there are what, maybe a half dozen legit centers who are better 3 point shooters than Embiid right now? Simmons finished 66th in points per game and 86th in TS%, and is useless as a scorer outside of the paint. He also hasn't shown an inch of offensive improvement since his rookie year. It's not "all" on Simmons, but right now he's taking none of it.
 

JM3

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I've just kinda skimmed, but I think someone made the correct point that Morey's 1st move as GM should have been getting max value for Simmons right away when he wasn't a distressed stock.

Also, I haven't seen the "Ben practicing in pants with his phone" picture so I'll grab that.

Add pictures:
49340557-10105427-image-m-9_1634599877002.jpg 49341217-10105427-The_25_year_old_s_phone_can_clearly_be_seen_sticking_out_of_his_-a-3_1634598...jpg
 

Swedgin

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Embiid could always become a much better 3 point shooter, so why is it all on Simmons?
Embiid actually has become a better shooter. His FT% has increased every year in the league. Last year he had career highs in both 3PT% and 2P%.

As has been discussed at length in this thread, Simmons issue is unwillingness to shoot at all, not just from three. He has regressed, substantially. Simmons' rookie year, he took over 21% of his shots beyond 10ft. Last two years, it has been under 10%.
 

EvilEmpire

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My feel on it is Morey didn't try very hard this offseason because he really thought he might have a shot at Lillard or the like in January.
I think there is a good chance that this may be true, but I'd really like to know how much he was working the phones and what offers he did get.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Embiid actually has become a better shooter. His FT% has increased every year in the league. Last year he had career highs in both 3PT% and 2P%.

As has been discussed at length in this thread, Simmons issue is unwillingness to shoot at all, not just from three. He has regressed, substantially. Simmons' rookie year, he took over 21% of his shots beyond 10ft. Last two years, it has been under 10%.

I dunno. People take it as a given players can add a 3 point shot. Simmons was never a good fit with Embiid and the hope was he'd develop into that and that maybe stunted his growth. Everyone wanting Simmons to be something he isn't.
 

benhogan

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Morey has to keep Embiid happy too. I think if he was offered something that Embiid liked, he would have taken it. As bad as the situation is, how much worse would it be if Embiid wanted to leave too? Morey may not be able to get "more" for Simmons right now, but when Dec/Jan comes around he might have similar value in a wider range of options that fit better as more players become available for trade.

Sure, it's a gamble. But I don't think the offers he's gotten have been that great so far.
Some players who can't be traded now will be available in a few months. That's all I got.
Yep, this is Morey's play. Just wait a few months for a few teams to underperform. Right now every NBA team is undefeated, pretty much healthy, and optimistic.

If he can get back some of the owners $$$, while playing hardball so much the better.

Ben/Klutch really needs to talk to Kawhi about the way to play this. Blame Philly's doctors for not diagnosing something in the shoulder that affected your shooting in 4th Quarters ;)
 

CreightonGubanich

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It's certainly surprising that Simmons hasn't improved, and has actually regressed, particularly as a shooter. That wasn't particularly foreseeable. I do think that the possibility of him never really being a good fit alongside Joel Embiid was foreseeable though, and Philly should be called out for never, to this point, maximizing the roster around Embiid. I think that choice was less about optimism that Simmons would eventually be a good shooter, and more about trying to hedge against an Embiid injury. Having Simmons around enabled Philly to have a backup superstar if Embiid went down. They could theoretically recalibrate the team, surround Simmons with shooters, and carry on. Trading Simmons, even at peak value, would probably not have returned someone with the same upside, even if they would have fit better with Embiid, so Philly stuck with Simmons.

Point being: Philly should have recognized that Joel Embiid was their meal ticket to a championship, their once-in-a-generation foundational superstar, and oriented the entire roster around him years ago. But they didn't, and now it's too late.
 

Devizier

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What's weirdly tragic about this is we could really be on the precipice of Ben Simmons going the Rick Ankiel route here.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Yep, this is Morey's play. Just wait a few months for a few teams to underperform. Right now every NBA team is undefeated, pretty much healthy, and optimistic.

If he can get back some of the owners $$$, while playing hardball so much the better.

Ben/Klutch really needs to talk to Kawhi about the way to play this. Blame Philly's doctors for not diagnosing something in the shoulder that affected your shooting in 4th Quarters ;)
They Fultz'd him up.
 

Cellar-Door

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And yet Embiid has indicated he'd rather be playing with Butler than Simmons.

Butler recruited Lowry to Miami, a player that Philly was trying to get, so he's not hated by everyone. Yeah, teams don't all have to get along to be successful but it seems like one criteria is that everyone is on board with getting better, which Simmons is not on board with.

Re: fit - the fit doesn't work because of him. You could slot pretty much any other player in the league next to Joel Embiid and that is a championship quality team. What is the team that Simmons would be a good fit with? Golden State? Okay, so you're trading Draymond for Simmons then, because they can't play together... what is Simmons offering that Draymond doesn't to the Warriors? Better perimeter D and finishing, but worse interior D and shooting. Does that improve the Warriors all that much?
My point was... just because Simmons didn't get along with (though actually I'm not sure that's true of Butler, it was more that his team didn't think they fit, because they don't) a guy doesn't mean he will be a problem elsewhere. And Embiid suddenly was upset about Butler only when PHI didn't go far in the playoffs and Jimmy had the bubble run, he never gave any indication before.

I mean, the fit doesn't work because of Simmons true, though Embiid and Jimmy I bet isn't a title team either, Jimmy can't shoot beyond 10 feet, and he's wildly FT reliant, people got fooled a bit by the bubble, Jimmy was absolutely terrible last year in the playoffs, and in the 2019 playoffs with PHI he shot 26% from 3 and struggled in the ECF, where he was solidly outplayed by one Ben Simmons who was much better in that series.

Ben Simmons needs to be on a team where the other 4 guys don't want or have to to be in the paint. MIN would work, GSW would work if Draymond isn't there.. and what he offers is better defense, better passing and the ability to attack off the dribble. Some of the teams without strong long term commitments could grab Simmons and build with a stretch 5 and just about any wings/guards who can shoot. He's not versatile, but neither are most post players.
 

Devizier

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What is the Rick Ankiel route? Leaving the NBA for a few years and coming as a SG?
Future ace to someone completely unable to perform at the major league level. The years in the wilderness were an aftereffect of that.

I know Simmons has been limited and hasn't shown much growth, but he has still been a ++ player and there's the possibility that this circus completely derails him
 

Van Everyman

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As soon as Doc Rivers spoke, he forced Morey's hand.
I think Doc's post-game (G7 loss to Hawks) comments about his doubts about Simmons being the 76ers PG going forward, and then Embiid jumping in, all but tied Morey's hands to get anything close to fair value for BS.
Morey's going to get killed when he trades BS for 50 cents on the dollar, and he knows he'll be lucky if he gets that.
Can someone explain to me what Doc was supposed to do? He was trying to win a (very winnable) playoff series. Was he really airing some dirty laundry? Everyone watching the NBA knew his All Star PG was playing scared in the playoffs and he was asked if he could win with the guy. Maybe his answer should have been "no comment." But is saying "I don't know" really some indefensible response?

I just can't get over how much people are falling over themselves to blame Simmons' total collapse on anyone other than Simmons. Morey should've done this or that. Doc should've done something else. Embiid shouldn't have answered a question about his quitting ass, babied teammate.

What exactly is the "right way" to handle a situation where a guy making $30M stops putting work in, loses all confidence in himself and literally quits on his team?

Edit: As evidenced by @benhogan blaming Klutch and everybody else.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Future ace to someone completely unable to perform at the major league level. The years in the wilderness were an aftereffect of that.

I know Simmons has been limited and hasn't shown much growth, but he has still been a ++ player and there's the possibility that this circus completely derails him
Maybe but has an established NBA player ever had his career derailed by the yips? Fultz wasn't established.

Plenty of guys had their careers derailed by drugs, alcohol, and injuries.

Nick Anderson had some issues at the FT line but was mostly the same dude.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Can someone explain to me what Doc was supposed to do? He was trying to win a (very winnable) playoff series. Was he really airing some dirty laundry? Everyone watching the NBA knew his All Star PG was playing scared in the playoffs and he was asked if he could win with the guy. Maybe his answer should have been "no comment." But is saying "I don't know" really some indefensible response?

I just can't get over how much people are falling over themselves to blame Simmons' total collapse on anyone other than Simmons. Morey should've done this or that. Doc should've done something else. Embiid shouldn't have answered a question about his quitting ass, babied teammate.

What exactly is the "right way" to handle a situation where a guy making $30M stops putting work in, loses all confidence in himself and literally quits on his team?

Edit: As evidenced by @benhogan blaming Klutch and everybody else.
No one is saying Simmons is guilt free. Just that other people are guilty too.
 

benhogan

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Can someone explain to me what Doc was supposed to do? He was trying to win a (very winnable) playoff series. Was he really airing some dirty laundry? Everyone watching the NBA knew his All Star PG was playing scared in the playoffs and he was asked if he could win with the guy. Maybe his answer should have been "no comment." But is saying "I don't know" really some indefensible response?

I just can't get over how much people are falling over themselves to blame Simmons' total collapse on anyone other than Simmons. Morey should've done this or that. Doc should've done something else. Embiid shouldn't have answered a question about his quitting ass, babied teammate.

What exactly is the "right way" to handle a situation where a guy making $30M stops putting work in, loses all confidence in himself and literally quits on his team?
say great things about Ben, + passer and work a deal in the background

Press Conferences 101

Heck, we've been talking about Embiid/Simmons being a bad fit around here for years. Button up and make a deal.

Wasn't Doc a GM once upon a time?
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Can someone explain to me what Doc was supposed to do? He was trying to win a (very winnable) playoff series. Was he really airing some dirty laundry? Everyone watching the NBA knew his All Star PG was playing scared in the playoffs and he was asked if he could win with the guy. Maybe his answer should have been "no comment." But is saying "I don't know" really some indefensible response?

I just can't get over how much people are falling over themselves to blame Simmons' total collapse on anyone other than Simmons. Morey should've done this or that. Doc should've done something else. Embiid shouldn't have answered a question about his quitting ass, babied teammate.

What exactly is the "right way" to handle a situation where a guy making $30M stops putting work in, loses all confidence in himself and literally quits on his team?

Edit: As evidenced by @benhogan blaming Klutch and everybody else.
Doc has to say publicly that "We have every confidence in Ben going forward. He's one of the cornerstones of this franchise."

What he does in private is another thing but in public, he has to support his player or it turns out like this.

I mean we don't like it but superstar players and workers get to be coddled. Because if they don't get coddled, they go elsewhere and the organization loses their productivity. Organizations make their stars happy or the stars go elsewhere. That's kind of the reality.
 

EvilEmpire

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A 25-year-old player who has been given everything in his life and was thrown under the bus by his coach and teammates and is now having his balls busted by the GM and he should be professional?
Ideally, the professionalism would have started earlier in his career when working on his free throws and his shooting might have prevented what happened in the last playoffs.

I don't think his coach or his teammates would have said shit if he had been working previously to address problems with his game. Trying and failing is one thing. Not trying is different.
 

Cellar-Door

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Can someone explain to me what Doc was supposed to do? He was trying to win a (very winnable) playoff series. Was he really airing some dirty laundry? Everyone watching the NBA knew his All Star PG was playing scared in the playoffs and he was asked if he could win with the guy. Maybe his answer should have been "no comment." But is saying "I don't know" really some indefensible response?
If your response to a question about your 25 year old star having a bad series is ... "yeah don't know if we can win with him" everyone knows what you're doing.
Doc knew what he was doing, in part he did it because he'd been taking shots all week in the media from ex-players (and current ones) about his coaching prowess, after an offseason where one of his stars in LA basically said he was a bad coach.
If you want that player there the next year, you say "listen Ben had a rough series, but he's a talented kid, he'll work on some things in the offseason, I'll work on some things as a coach and we'll be back better next year". If you want to trade the player... you say the same thing then let the GM trade him.

There is no situation where you cut your player's legs out in the press and it works out. Doc's response tells you that all he cared about was making sure that he wasn't the guy to get blamed for another disappointing playoff exit from one of his teams (about the 10th straight).

Edit- it's especially annoying because... Simmons has had pretty good playoff series' in the past, for a coach to give up on a guy after 1 playoffs is crazy, who cares how bad some of those games were.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Ideally, the professionalism would have started earlier in his career when working on his free throws and his shooting might have prevented what happened in the last playoffs.

I don't think his coach or his teammates would have said shit if he had been working previously to address problems with his game. Trying and failing is one thing. Not trying is different.
Ideally, PHI would have figured out a way to help him improve earlier in his tenure with the team. Seems like PHI during the Brett Brown era was more than happy with how he was playing basketball.
 

EvilEmpire

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You mean like his star teammate and coach who called him out at the post-game presser following their elimination? That kind of professionalism?
No, like I said, the kind where he worked to improve his game over the last several years before everyone got fed up.
 

HomeRunBaker

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No, like I said, the kind where he worked to improve his game over the last several years before everyone got fed up.
Imagine being fed up that your 25-yr old, second best player is “only” a perennial All-Star and arguably the best defensive player in the league (certainly top-3). Nuts.
 

djbayko

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Can someone explain to me what Doc was supposed to do? He was trying to win a (very winnable) playoff series. Was he really airing some dirty laundry? Everyone watching the NBA knew his All Star PG was playing scared in the playoffs and he was asked if he could win with the guy. Maybe his answer should have been "no comment." But is saying "I don't know" really some indefensible response?

I just can't get over how much people are falling over themselves to blame Simmons' total collapse on anyone other than Simmons. Morey should've done this or that. Doc should've done something else. Embiid shouldn't have answered a question about his quitting ass, babied teammate.

What exactly is the "right way" to handle a situation where a guy making $30M stops putting work in, loses all confidence in himself and literally quits on his team?

Edit: As evidenced by @benhogan blaming Klutch and everybody else.
Don’t mistake what I’m saying. I’m not a Simmons apologist at all. But once the shit show that was last playoffs went down, it was perfectly reasonable to demand and expect a trade. I mean, the team made it clear they didn’t want him. And Doc should have taken the high road. That’s what coaches do. It’s also what good teammates do. Then you can show each other tough love behind closed doors and/or work a trade.
 

HomeRunBaker

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Don’t mistake what I’m saying. I’m not a Simmons apologist at all. But once the shit show that was last playoffs went down, it was perfectly reasonable to demand and expect a trade. I mean, the team made it clear they didn’t want him. And Doc should have taken the high road. That’s what coaches do. It’s also what good teammates do.
This is where I am……and I’m a HUGE Doc fanboy.
 

Tony C

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Yeah: professional.
It's a cute line and, of course, I agree -- my boss asks me to do something and I drop my ...er....computer and walk out I'll be out of a job. But the job of a coach and GM is to both be professional and be aware that they're dealing with young egos. Doc dogging Simmons was both unprofessional and stupid -- and I think there should be higher expectations for a coach. Morey has been an idiot in not reading the tea leaves and now seems to be betting on humiliating Simmons.

We can break down Simmons game all we want but focusing only on his lack of outside shooting is to ignore the amazing things he brings to the court. Lots of unprofessionalism to go around, for sure. But Doc and Morey really need to be more of a focus here.
 

Cellar-Door

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No, like I said, the kind where he worked to improve his game over the last several years before everyone got fed up.
I mean... we have no idea if he did or didn't, he certainly seems to be in the Gym working on shooting. He still can't shoot, but his defense improved year over year, and his scoring efficiency went up his first 3 years before a slight dip back to year 2 levels last year. Ben SImmons improved each real off-season he had as a player, just not as a shooter.
 

johnmd20

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Maybe but has an established NBA player ever had his career derailed by the yips? Fultz wasn't established.

Plenty of guys had their careers derailed by drugs, alcohol, and injuries.

Nick Anderson had some issues at the FT line but was mostly the same dude.
How would we know if Simmons has the yips? He doesn't shoot.
 

EvilEmpire

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Ideally, PHI would have figured out a way to help him improve earlier in his tenure with the team. Seems like PHI during the Brett Brown era was more than happy with how he was playing basketball.
Yeah, I'm sure they tried really hard, and did so in a way as to not shame him about it. I don't think that Brett Brown was happy at all. I don't think it worked.

Imagine being fed up that your 25-yr old, second best player is “only” a perennial All-Star and arguably the best defensive player in the league (certainly top-3). Nuts.
Finally fed up after what happened in the last playoffs? Yes, I think so. Look, we don't really know what was going on, but his teammates do. I believe this situation was years in the making, and most of it (not all) is on Simmons for how it is working out.
 

Cellar-Door

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Yeah, I'm sure they tried really hard, and did so in a way as to not shame him about it. I don't think that Brett Brown was happy at all. I don't think it worked.



Finally fed up after what happened in the last playoffs? Yes, I think so. Look, we don't really know what was going on, but his teammates do. I believe this situation was years in the making, and most of it (not all) is on Simmons for how it is working out.
The only teammate who has said anything even vaguely negative about Simmons is Embiid, and considering what we know about him I'd be hesitant to assume other players feel the same.
Also... Doc was there 1 year, and is an experienced coach, he knows better, he's just more concerned with covering his own ass than anything else at this point in his career.
And maybe a lot or all of it is on Simmons, BUT... they didn't try anything new with him last year. One of the things leaked this summer was Doc's "brilliant plans" for him this year... why didn't he try any of that last year? There is plenty of blame to go around, but one reason Simmons imploded last year in a way he didn't in previous years is because he had zero support from his coach or GM.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Yeah, I'm sure they tried really hard, and did so in a way as to not shame him about it. I don't think that Brett Brown was happy at all. I don't think it worked.



Finally fed up after what happened in the last playoffs, yes, I think so. Look, we don't really know what was going on, but his teammates do. I believe this situation was years in the making, and most of it (not all) is on Simmons for how it is working out.
Shouldn't Philly have realized this before it got that point and traded him? At some point, you have to accept a player for what he is and stop expecting him to do things he's never done. Maybe year 4 isn't that, but it's probably close. The organization should be aware that things are getting to a boiling point and do what is necessary to stop water from boiling over.

The 3 point shot is a bit different because a few players add that well into their careers but meh. What has Simmons shown in the past to suggest year 4 would be any different than year 1-3? People keep saying "he's shown no offensive growth." He's also shown no willingness to shoot the 3. Expecting those things from him seems foolish.
 

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Apr 9, 2001
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This is the most glorious trainwreck pre-season for Celtics opponents that I can ever remember. If Embiid takes a swing at Simmons sometime this year, I would not be at all surprised.
And breaks his hand.
 

Tony C

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SoSH Member
Apr 13, 2000
13,694
...
Finally fed up after what happened in the last playoffs? Yes, I think so. Look, we don't really know what was going on, but his teammates do. I believe this situation was years in the making, and most of it (not all) is on Simmons for how it is working out.
It seems to me the difference between great management and poor management is recognizing what players bring to the table rather than dogging them for what they don't. It's the BB mantra of "just do your job" -- i.e, not every player can do everything, but if they do what the coach/management puts them in a position to do, the team as a whole will thrive.

I could look at Joel Embiid's career and say what a clown -- constantly injured, constantly getting in immature beefs, more intent on being a WWE pseudo-champion than rather than putting in the work to actually win. His humiliation by John Collins was his just desserts and shows what a loser he is -- not even to go to him dogging KAT after KAT lost so much family to Covid (and, I'd add, his dogging Simmons is also unproductive -- just shut up, you're not hel;ping). And you know what...all that I just wrote is true. Embiid is a bozo. But even if he is, he's also a great player and any smart GM/coach will recognize that and say, hey, we have to work to keep him healthy (games off/fewer minutes), more focused (talk to him about not getting into beefs with other players much less his own teammates) and they definitely have to do that without publicly humiliating him.

Same with Simmons. The guy has an obvious deficit in his game and a dumb GM/coach will accentuate that while a smart management team will understand all he brings to the court, work around his flaws, and...again...definitely not publicly humiliate him.

Say what you will about professionalism -- but Doc and Morey aren't doing their jobs well.
 
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