2023 offseason thread

[DJ Fieri]

At this point it would take Phil Jackson to build him back up.

Nah. Spo and Pop are 2 HOF caliber coaches who would be able to coach him. Maybe Billups too like The Q mentioned but they have Scoot.

 

[Shanemansj13]

I mean, before his injury the kid was an efficient 24 ppg scorer. That went down but he remained an efficient shooter. size does hurt him, though.

Plus, Sexton is making $10M/yr less. He was extremely efficient for a small guard. Both less than average defenders.

 

[fightinfunbags]

I mean realistically, if Philly didn’t get Harden for Simmons what were they going to get for him? Genuinely curious bc I remember at the time there wasn’t much there.
Both sides could have done things different and Philly maybe trades him earlier to get great value for him but difficult to say bc they were living on hope he would continue to improve. I mean we saw him shooting jumpshots in pickup and practice but he refused to shoot in game. The guy is there mentally and seems to be lacking confidence.

Revisiting Simmons requires hindsight and projection to be the one guy in 100 that saw it coming. The most realistic trade talk that involved Simmons came when Kawhi was traded to Toronto. Simmons was linked to a possible trade for Kawhi who would have been a one year rental. Word on the street was that he wanted to be in LA. In the end, that’s where he went after one year in Toronto. So what was on the table at that juncture was a guy who was ROTY in year 1, and in year 2 3rd team All NBA for a one year rental of Kawhi. Most everyone would have said that’s a bad deal for the Sixers. Personally, I think the writing was on the wall with the way he reacted to Jimmy Butler being put on the ball the following year in the playoffs. Even that is hindsight but I maintain that the Sixers organization needed to see that coming and they chose the wrong player in letting Butler walk and keeping Simmons to be the PG. Even there, Himmy Butler wasn’t a thing yet. Butler today was different than Butler back then.

Oy vey…here I am litigating the Simmons shit all over again. It’s exhausting. But the reality is this. When players rise and fall they get helped, they get harmed by outside forces but the Buck stops here and the ultimate success or failure lies with the player. More so than anything else, success in sports lies in dealing with adversity. Adversity chewed Ben Simmons up and spit him out. It is what it is.


And I almost forgot. Numerous posters have told me over two days “they shouldn’t have dealt for Harden”. Yet when pressed to produce a viable alternative among many rumors that were printed at the time, no one can produce anything that comes close to what Morey actually got with the Simmons asset.

 

[trojanfan12]

I mean realistically, if Philly didn’t get Harden for Simmons what were they going to get for him? Genuinely curious bc I remember at the time there wasn’t much there.

Are you talking about before or after his trade value was tanked?

Because that's really the issue, imo. We don't really know what they could have gotten prior to that because they never got the chance to find out.

 

[fightinfunbags]

Here’s Doc Rivers about 10 days before the Sixers “tanked” Simmons value. This is Doc playing mental gymnastics and attempting a Jedi Mind Trick to try and convince reporters that it’s not a big deal to have a basketball player that doesn’t shoot.

So for the record…you need to pump sunshine and lollipops up the ass of people but then when you have one comment in a press conference it completely tanks a players value.

 

[Shanemansj13]

Are you talking about before or after his trade value was tanked?

Because that's really the issue, imo. We don't really know what they could have gotten prior to that because they never got the chance to find out.

Well at the time Jimmy and Ben feud I think Simmons value was close to his highest. If the Sixers choose Jimmy over Ben then they get more than Harden for him. Philly not keeping Jimmy is ultimately the worst decision for them in all this, like fight said

 

[Mebert]

Well at the time Jimmy and Ben feud I think Simmons value was close to his highest. If the Sixers choose Jimmy over Ben then they get more than Harden for him. Philly not keeping Jimmy is ultimately the worst decision for them in all this, like fight said

Now this is an all time what if. Does Simmons recover with the early trade, you have to assume 76ers have a ring, where are the heat at without Butler?

 

[thunderc]

Yes I did say that.

I said the 6ers overpaid for Harden.

Simmons never recovered, so the Nets lost out big.

But the 6ers lost too.

As I said from the jump when instead of quietly trading Simmons, their star players and coach decided to call him out in the media first.

Then all the drama unfolded.

And yes, Philly broke him. He was a very good player before all the drama.

Another theory is that he was broken the second he got the bag.

 

[fightinfunbags]

Now this is an all time what if. Does Simmons recover with the early trade, you have to assume 76ers have a ring, where are the heat at without Butler?

They’d be Josh Richardson Bam and Justice Winslow with a bunch of the undrafted guys.

 

[thunderc]

I mean realistically, if Philly didn’t get Harden for Simmons what were they going to get for him? Genuinely curious bc I remember at the time there wasn’t much there.
Both sides could have done things different and Philly maybe trades him earlier to get great value for him but difficult to say bc they were living on hope he would continue to improve. I mean we saw him shooting jumpshots in pickup and practice but he refused to shoot in game. The guy is there mentally and seems to be lacking confidence.

His trade value was dead when he didn’t take a layup. That was the end. The entire league has eyes and had watched the buildup to that moment.

 

[fightinfunbags]

His trade value was dead when he didn’t take a layup. That was the end. The entire league has eyes and had watched the buildup to that moment.

Right? The entire premise behind this is that NBA GMs make evaluations about players based on TMZ and the rumor mill. I think some of our posters watch too much Bravo with their wives.

 

[DJ Fieri]

Another theory is that he was broken the second he got the bag.

Guys like him and Lonzo really don't love the game....that is part of the problem.

 

[trojanfan12]

Well at the time Jimmy and Ben feud I think Simmons value was close to his highest. If the Sixers choose Jimmy over Ben then they get more than Harden for him. Philly not keeping Jimmy is ultimately the worst decision for them in all this, like fight said

No disagreement there.

 

[trojanfan12]

Now this is an all time what if. Does Simmons recover with the early trade, you have to assume 76ers have a ring, where are the heat at without Butler?

Gonna go out on a limb and say...they don't have 2 recent finals appearances.

 

[trojanfan12]

They’d be Josh Richardson Bam and Justice Winslow with a bunch of the undrafted guys.

Wait!! What?!?.

The Heat had a bunch of undrafted players.

I'd think reporters would have mentioned that during the playoffs.

@bksballer89 can you confirm this?

 

[Shanemansj13]

Now this is an all time what if. Does Simmons recover with the early trade, you have to assume 76ers have a ring, where are the heat at without Butler?

Simmons might recover to the point where he can play, hard to say bc injuries just started piling up. The same could happen.
Now Jimmy turning into Himmy is an interesting one. With Embiid I don’t think he is Himmy but he is still the best 2nd option in the NBA and his game is still the same, who really knows. I think there is a good chance Philly has a ring tbh

 

[Shanemansj13]

His trade value was dead when he didn’t take a layup. That was the end. The entire league has eyes and had watched the buildup to that moment.

Yeah you’re right. That was the turning point but I can’t seem to remember. Did this occur, before the Jimmy feud? After? Or somewhere in between?

I think he misses the layup then in the offseason it all went down…

 

[thunderc]

Yeah you’re right. That was the turning point but I can’t seem to remember. Did this occur, before the Jimmy feud? After? Or somewhere in between?

I think he misses the layup then in the offseason it all went down…

Butler was long gone by then, it would have been awesome to see him react to it though lol.

 

[bksballer89]

I also think this could happen but not because embiid owns a house in ny lol. NY is a 2 hr drive from philly so it isn't a big deal imo that he owns a house here

 

[bksballer89]