We are starting to have some confirmation that Ben is not receiving renumeration for his absence this season. Bill Simmons confirmed our long running suspicion that Ben Simmons (not his son, Ben Simmons, but Ben Simmons the delinquent 76ers player) has not received a paycheck since the season started and has since thrown away half of his $33 million salary so far. Bill's statement corroborates Adrian Wojnarowski's January 12 report that asserted:
Simmons, 25, is signed through the 2024-25 season -- a five-year, $177 million maximum contract -- and continues to be subjected to significant fines for games missed and absences from team functions.
I give Bill, a source of mixed credibility, the benefit of the doubt in issues related to Daryl Morey (/u/dmorey) because they are friends and that Bill has often been shown to be used as a conduit for Morey as recently as the last trade kerfuffle with Houston.
The reason behind the prior uncertainty was because Adrian's report directly contradicted an earlier January 10 report by Shams Charania that stated:
The 76ers have not been fining Simmons, as he fulfills team obligations such as training sessions and team meetings as well as continuing to meet with mental health specialists, sources said.
This is one of the few times that Woj directly contradicted Shams. It's also a rare L for Shams' sourcing. It should be noted that Shams is a Klutch Klient and, given his proximity to the (Ben) Simmons camp, the nature of the report should raise some questions about the sources' motivations.
Below is a select piece of the transcript of Bill's podcast, in which he breaks down the Simmons situation. The link is timestamped at 10:53, sandwiched in between a monologue about Joel Embiid. Everyone should listen to the essay. It's purpose is to celebrate the miracle of Joel Embiid. He gave Joel the highest praise he could give any NBA star, past or present, by comparing him to the likes of the legendary Andrew Toney.
Back to Ben. Bill, on Ben:
We haven't seen an NBA star throw away an entire season of paychecks since Gus Williams, my guy, held out in Seattle in 1982. That was an absolute travesty and accomplished nothing other than probably keeping Gus out of the Hall of Fame (I'm still mad about it). Well, Simmons was supposed to earn $33 million this season. He's already set half of that money on fire, he's not getting paid it's gone he'll never get it back. It's still unclear what he's trying to tell us. He doesn't want to play for the Sixers anymore because.. Rivers embarassed him? He doesn't want to get booed by the fans? He lost his confidence as long as he's wearing a Philly uniform? I mean, what's going on here? If it's a mental health issue, then how does that work for the 29 other teams who might want to trade for him? If Sacramento deals for him tomorrow, his mental health suddenly becomes fine, so it's a conditional mental health issue just related to Philly? For someone making $33 million a year (and climbing) in a league with a salary cap, how does this work? Well, the 76ers did the math and they still want Simmons to come back because, they know, when Simmons plays, they're one of the NBA's best defensive teams, they're one of the better rebounding teams, they're one of the better transition teams, they have size, they have an actual chance to win the title and if you replace him with anyone other than the best 30 players, that is no longer the case. Well, nobody wants to trade a top 30 player for him.
They're not getting:
- Giannis
- Steph
- Luka
- LeBron
- Ja
- Durant
- Booker
- Trae
- Towns
- Mitchell
- Tatum
- Harden
- Butler
- Davis
- Bam
- Jokic
- Derozan
- LaVine
- Jaylen
- Beal I just named 20 guys.
They're not getting valuable vets on contenders like:
- CP3
- Middleton
- Draymond
- Jrue
- Gobert
- Klay
And that's up to 26.
They're not getting valuable young stars from teams that like those young stars. Guys like:
- Mobley
- La Melo
- Garland
- Cade
- Giddey
- Barnes
- Even Kuminga!
- Edwards
- Wagner!
- Ayton
- Jaren Jackson
- Brandon Ingram
You're not getting those guys!
Well, now we're up to 38 guys. Injured stars like:
- Kawhi
- Zion
- Murray
- Paul George
- Porter
..they don't make sense for either size for a variety of reasons.
They're not trading for Kyrie. I sure hope not.
That's 44 guys who don't make sense in a Ben Simmons trade. So, would Philly completely overpay for an injured Dame? Maybe? That's how grim this is. Trying to talk a semi-tanking Portland team into Simmons and Maxi and a hundred first round picks for a 32 year old little guy with a fucked up abdomen. That semi tanking team is probably saying "no thanks, we're good."
- What do you think Ben's options are now? From the looks of it, Ben has zero leverage to force anything other than a return to the court in a Sixers uniform.
- What can Ben do to regain trade leverage?
- If you think that Ben should return to playing for Philly, how long do you think it will take for Philly fans to forgive him? What should he do to make amends with the fan base?
(Edited the post to modulate my prior statements of Bill's credibility so as to recognize the fact that the truth is ultimately unknowable.)
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