National Basketball Association

Ben Simmons might find it tougher to get out of Philly than other stars who asked for trades

Updated Oct. 20, 2021 11:01 a.m. ET

By Ric Bucher
FOX Sports NBA Analyst

What Ben Simmons wants — to be traded to another team — isn’t anything new.

James Harden wanted it. So did Russell Westbrook. Same with Anthony Davis not that long ago. A star player being disenchanted with his team to the point of asking to be moved has happened plenty of times — even a star player on a team with legitimate championship aspirations such as the Philadelphia 76ers.

It’s difficult to think of a star player who didn’t have his wish granted in fairly short order. So why, with Simmons reportedly making clear what he wanted months ago, have the 76ers not granted his wish?

Rival GMs point to a variety of reasons, including that Simmons has himself at least partly to blame. By initially refusing to report to training camp, he made it clear that his relationship with the team that made him the first pick of the 2015 NBA Draft was beyond repair. That eliminated any leverage 76ers president Daryl Morey might have had to satisfy Simmons’ desire and receive, in return, a player capable of helping his team make a run at the conference’s best record for the second season in a row.

"He should have reported," one rival Eastern Conference executive said. "When he didn’t show up, the rest of the league took that as, ‘He really doesn’t want to be there.’ So no one was going to make their best offer because they figured the Sixers had to move him. Daryl is no genius, but he’s not going to take a dumb deal."

Last offseason, Harden, of course, made it clear to the Houston Rockets that he not only wanted out but also wanted to be dealt to one specific team, the Brooklyn Nets. Despite all that, the Rockets were able to orchestrate a four-team deal that included three unprotected future first-round picks and two-time All-Star Victor Oladipo. The 76ers and Morey might have helped drive up the price with rumors that they were interested in landing Harden as well, with some reports having Simmons as the potential trade bait.

The Washington Wizards were able to land a similarly hefty cache for Westbrook and two second-round picks, receiving Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope from the Los Angeles Lakers as part of a five-team deal.

But Westbrook and Harden were coming off significantly different performances. Westbrook averaged a triple-double for the eighth-seeded Wizards against Simmons and the top-seeded Sixers last spring. Harden not only showed up for the start of last season but also showcased exactly what suitors would get with a 44-point, 17-assist performance on opening night. He averaged 33 points through the first three games before twisting an ankle. He wasn’t the same after that and appeared to gain weight but still missed only one game, playing in the next five before the trade to Brooklyn was finally completed.

Simmons, on the other hand, was last seen being benched in the fourth quarter because of his horrific free-throw shooting woes, missing 48 of 73 attempts. His refusal to shoot from beyond a few feet from the basket and failure to develop a consistent jump shot undermined the value of his outstanding passing, ball handling, defensive skills and inherent advantage as an extremely agile, 6-foot-11, 240-pound point guard.

Morey — or whoever the source was who generated the reports that Philadelphia would not settle for anything less than perennial All-Star point guard Damian Lillard or Washington Wizards All-Star shooting guard Bradley Beal — didn’t help matters. Several executives said Morey has grossly overvalued what Simmons, even as an All-Defensive first-team selection the past two seasons, is worth.

"Daryl has to get an impact All-Star in return, based on his public statements," one Western Conference GM said. "He should be a realtor. He’s got a condemned property on the worst lot on the block, and he wants to pretend he’s only going to sell at the highest comp in the zip code."

The other distinction among Harden, Westbrook and Simmons is that the former two are past 30 and on much shorter contracts. Both can opt out of the final year of their deals next summer, whereas Simmons is 25 and entering the second year of a five-year, $177 million contract.

Caving in to the trade demands of a young star who just signed a maximum-salary contract might encourage other young stars to do the same. A second East GM speculated that commissioner Adam Silver and/or other owners in the league might have put back-channel pressure on Morey and Sixers owner Josh Harris to not allow Simmons to set that precedent.

"Whether it was the front office or other owners, I think someone in the NBA started talking to Philly and said, ‘There’s no way you can let this happen,’" the GM said. "You might as well shut the league down. It would kill the current business model. I’m all for players having a say, but not to that degree."

So how does this end? With the competition for the 2021-22 title appearing to be fairly wide-open, the first East GM suggested the 76ers could wait through the first 25 to 30 games for a team with playoff or title hopes to falter and feel compelled to make a move. Such a team might see Simmons as a solution, particularly if that squad is struggling defensively.

"In the West, there’s no clear-cut favorite, and in the East, there’s Milwaukee, I guess, but after that, it’s wide-open, too," he said. "I’m not just going to give away Ben Simmons. I’ll wait for someone to panic."

That could be the case for two very prominent teams, the Lakers and the Nets. If the Lakers continue their preseason struggles or the Nets decide to move Kyrie Irving in a multiteam deal, their current reported disinterest in Simmons might shift.

But the other East GM still comes back to Simmons. If he really wanted to make the 76ers regret blaming him for their playoff shortcomings last spring, he would’ve worked on his free-throw issues and showcased them while not relenting on his trade demand. That certainly would’ve been more likely to facilitate an acceptable offer than his being insubordinate and getting thrown out of practice Tuesday and suspended for the season opener.

"One thing he could’ve done is get in the gym and work on his shot," the GM said. "It’s about time some of these young men look at themselves in the mirror. Don’t run from the problem."

It's too late for that. As it stands, Simmons has no shot — in more ways than one.

Ric Bucher is the national NBA writer for FOX Sports. He previously wrote for Bleacher Report, ESPN The Magazine and The Washington Post and has written two books, "Rebound," the story of NBA forward Brian Grant’s battle with young onset Parkinson’s and "Yao: A Life In Two Different Worlds," the story of NBA center Yao Ming. He also has a daily podcast, "On The Ball with Ric Bucher."