All around the NBA, at least in those corners of the league in which the transaction wire is as important as what happens on the court, there is one looming date that has everyone’s attention: December 15. It is a big day for contracts around the league because marks the date when teams can trade away players they signed as free agents in the offseason.
For the Sixers and team president Daryl Morey, who have been locked into a stalemate with recalcitrant star Ben Simmons over Simmons’ trade demand, the hope is that December 15 opens a floodgate that could lead to a resolution of the messy situation between the team and its point guard.
A quick recap: Simmons wants out of Philadelphia, the Sixers want a star as part of any Simmons trade, and there’s no team in the league currently willing to give up a star for him. At least not yet. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, that could change soon.
“It’ll be interesting to see as we get closer to that February 10 trade deadline, what it looks like, I think the Ben Simmons conversations—I think the Sixers expect that they’ll start to heat up here or at least restart in a way on a lot of fronts as we get closer to December 15,” Wojnarowski said on his podcast this week.
Sixers’ Depth Tested by Persistent Injuries
That is welcome news for Sixers fans, of course, who have grown weary of the Simmons debacle. While Philly got off to a great start without Simmons—the team was 8-2—a lack of depth has begun to show itself as one of the cracks in the team’s foundation.
Injuries have ravaged the team, with only Tyrese Maxey and Georges Niang playing all 22 games thus far. Star big man Joel Embiid has missed 10 games (the Sixers are 3-7 in those games) and Tobias Harris has missed eight games. Key role players Danny Green and Matisse Thybulle have missed seven.
A Simmons deal focused on the short term would be enough to fill out the needed depth on the roster. But if Morey remains resolved to get a star, the situation could drag into the summer.
“Listen, their preference would be to find something if they cannot get him back to play,” Woj said. “But I think it is not inconceivable—now, Daryl Morey said Ben Simmons could be here another three years. I don’t think Ben Simmons is going to be there, I don’t think he’ll be there that long. I do think it’s conceivable they hold him past the trade deadline and we get to the draft into the summer, if there is not a deal in place.”
Would the Sixers Really ‘Punt’ on This Season?
What’s that mean for the current Sixers, then? Likely, it will mean they will have no chance to win a championship and that stars Embiid and Harris will have a year wasted in the primes of their careers.
As Wojnarowski put it, the Sixers could “punt” on this season.
“This is a team that has certainly struggled, they missed Embiid, they certainly struggled without Simmons,” he said. “You’ve seen some growth in some of their younger players. But the idea of just trading Simmons for pennies on the dollar, that guarantees that you’re never winning a championship. I think there is almost a sense of maybe they do punt on this season if it means just not doing a trade they absolutely hate.”
No comments:
Post a Comment