It’s already been an interesting offseason in Philly. The latest drama surrounding Ben Simmons took a new twist on Monday.
Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report told Steve Lipman and Dan Volpone of the SB Nation’s Liberty Ballers blog that the Sixers have been unable to contact Simmons at all so far this offseason.
“I’m not gonna write this in the story, but I’ll tell this to you guys and you guys can do what you want with it. They haven’t been able to really even get in touch with Ben since the season ended,” Fischer said, as transcribed by Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. “Like, there was an intent to have a workout plan or whatever — like in any offseason.”
Are the rumors true? Not according to Neubeck’s team sources. Philly apparently spoke to Simmons “on his birthday a couple days ago.”
“We talked to Ben on his birthday a couple of days ago, we’ve been in touch with him throughout the summer,” a source told Neubeck. “We’re going to send some training personnel out to see him this summer, too…we have good dialogue with Ben, his team, and his family.”
Team sources denied reporting Monday claiming the Sixers have been unable to get in touch with Ben Simmons, saying both sides spoke as recently as his birthdayhttps://t.co/38Pi0soAE6
— Kyle Neubeck (@KyleNeubeck) July 26, 2021
It looks like we can put the latest Ben Simmons rumor to rest. But that doesn’t exactly mean he’s going to be playing for Philly later this year.
Simmons is unofficially a potential trade candidate. The Sixers probably want to build around Joel Embiid and trade Simmons to build a better top-to-bottom roster.
Of all the teams in the NBA, Philly may be the one facing the most questions this offseason. Simmons is a big reason why.
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