Ben Simmons is trying to put the Philadelphia 76ers against the wall.
According to the latest reports, he formally requested to be traded and informed the team that he wouldn’t attend training camp.
By doing that, not only did he completely sank his trade value but also, he’d be in a violation of his contract and therefore could face financial repercussions.
According to Brian Windhorst of ESPN, the Sixers could fine him for as much as $1.3 million for training camp alone, a figure that would only go higher for every day he doesn’t show up to work later in the season:
(Transcript via Pro Sports Daily)
As a part of his formal trade demand, Simmons recently informed the team that he will not be reporting to training camp. As this would be a violation of Simmons’ contract, Windhorst (who was told by former front office executive Bobby Marks) says Simmons can face a fine of $227,000 for every work day that he doesn’t show up to the Sixers’ camp.
“If they wanted to fine him, for every week, he could be fined about $1.3 million,” Windhorst said. “The Simmons side has told me ‘we are prepared for that ramification.’”
That’s just a classic Rich Paul move. Klutch Sports operates that way by trying to gain leverage and lower their client’s trade value to get him to a better team at a discount.
This time, however, it doesn’t seem like Daryl Morey is willing to cave in to their demands, and he’s known for being an aggressive GM but also a guy that will never take a penny on the dollar.
The truth is that Ben Simmons’ trade value is at low as it’ll ever be right now, so the Sixers may be forced to keep him — and force him to show up until that changes.
