Yet another day goes by without any sign of a conclusion to the Ben Simmons saga. The Australian point guard’s future is perhaps the most anticipated decision ahead of the 2021-22 NBA season.
Simmons is on the trading block and has been for quite some time now. But the 76ers seem to be asking for a lot in exchange for the 3-time NBA All-Star, something which franchises are not ready to pay at the moment. While Simmons’ quality and potential are really high, his draft stock is really low after last season.
Simmons performed very well during the regular season but melted down during the NBA Playoffs. Most notably, his performances in the series against the Atlanta Hawks were extremely poor.
His bad outing in the Playoffs made him the scapegoat for 76ers fans and members of the franchise. Being blamed for the entire team’s collapse cannot be easy, and has even led to Simmons reportedly being disillusioned in the city of brotherly love.
Even Simmons has taken notice of the rumors, and seemingly poked fun at them while also stoking the flames. In an Instagram story, Simmons posted a picture of himself at a barber, wearing a protective bib with every NBA franchise’s log on it.
This may be Simmons’ own hilarious way of acknowledging the merry-go-round around his future. Or it could just be a way for the 2018 Rookie Of The Year to have some fun at the expense of fans and analysts for being overly speculative.
Ben Simmons on IG yesterday 😂💀 pic.twitter.com/wy9H8xbH3x
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) September 6, 2021
At this point in time, all signs point to Simmons leaving the 76ers via a trade. But the question remains; where will he go? Most teams in the NBA have used up their cap space to sign players in free agency.
And realistically, only a handful of teams have the kind of assets that the 76ers will demand in a trade. So at the moment, Simmons’ future is far from resolved and he could really start the season anywhere.
