Ben Simmons has not returned to his Rookie of the Year/All-Star level of play from early in his career, but he is playing quality defense while showing off his passing skills averaging 6.5 assists a game for 9-10 Brooklyn this season. His former team, the Philadelphia 76ers, are off to a dreadful 3-14 start to the season.
Don’t mistake that for a “Simmons is coming back to Philly” reunion, but Simmons did call Joel Embiid and try to patch things up, reports Ramona Shelburne of ESPN in a fantastic story about the 76ers’ slow start.
He’d even reached out to Embiid and others last summer, league sources said, hoping to mend fences. Simmons, who is in the final year of his contract in Brooklyn, has shown how he can still impact a game with his passing, length and defense. But in the second quarter of the game Friday, he also missed the rim on a layup in a clip that quickly went viral — reminding everyone of how his time in Philadelphia went awry. Could they ever try to figure it out together again? One source called it unlikely, but stranger things have happened. Especially with the Sixers.
Stranger things have happened, but in the case of the 76ers they would have to deal with a fan backlash if they brought back Simmons that would not be worth the price. Also, it’s not like these two were ever tight, Simmons had said previously there was not much of a relationship between them even when he was in Philly.
Simmons will land a new contract with an NBA team next offseason, but one much closer to the league minimum than the $40 million a season he is making this year.
And it won’t be in Philly.
