Oncloud9 wrote:Every player agent, and every player privately, has to be feeling a level of distaste and distrust with the 76ers handling of the Ben Simmons situation. Regardless of what one believes about Ben Simmons, the very public blame and shame of Ben for what should be in-house matter is really the issue.
Most games can turn on a few possession here or there. Self doubt, self protection or malicious compliance, an inaccurate pass to a wide open teammate, not cutting hard, missing a defensive rotation, or not fighting through a pick can cumulatively turn wins into losses. If you're on the floor with him, how much do you trust him? if you're Doc, do you trust him? If you're Ben, do you trust instincts that left you open to public humiliation? We know how often some ill timed missed calls by refs can turn a game.
For the 76ers and for any potential trade partners Ben will never be the player he was. There is precedent. VC famously said he was never going to dunk again to force the Raps to trade him. VC became a shell of the player he'd been for the reminder of his tenure with the Raps, and IMO it changed him for the remainder of his career. He could dunk, he could shoot the 3, but he would never again put his body on the line to impact the game like he did when he was a Raptor.
The 76ers best course of action would be tell Ben to stay away until they can work out a trade and continue to pay him. They also need to go silent on the matter as the continuous reports are counter productive. For a billion dollar sports team, Ben's salary is not even close to the money the Rockets are paying Wall to stay home.
To quote the great Kenny Smith....."it's over, it's oooover". The sooner everyone can move on the better.
Ben... is that you?
How does PHI keep it "in house" when their max player is not with the team? It is going to be the first question on every reporters lips. Every member of the staff, from Morey to the window washers, would have to return to the bubble to make that happen. Nope, Ben did this to himself.
And your answer is for them to pay him to stay at home while they are supposedly in their championship window? No. He is not a perfect player but he does help them win. They need him on the floor to help them win today and help the facilitate a trade tomorrow.
Vince wanted out because he did not feel the organization was committed to winning. Simmons wants out of PHI because a few peoples honest answers embarrassed him . When it seemed clear a trade was imminent he wanted to break up with them before they could break up with him.
Wall is not with HOU because HOU wants to lose. That is a whole other issue in the league. PHI wants to win, HOU wants to lose. You can't compare the two situations.
