Ben Simmons injured his knee during the 76ers’ win over the Wizards yesterday.
The diagnosis is in, and the prognosis sounds worrisome.
Serena Winters of NBC Sports Philadelphia:
Ben Simmons suffered a subluxation of the left patella (knee cap) in yesterday's game, MRI confirms.
— Serena Winters (@SerenaWinters) August 6, 2020
He is OUT for tomorrow's game against the Magic.
Treatment options are currently being considered.
How quickly will Simmons recover? Once he recovers, will he face elevated risk of re-injury?
These questions now haunt Simmons and Philadelphia.
Simmons is a young star who’ll begin a max contract extension next season. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons opened Philadelphia’s championship window, and now rain is drizzling through. Philadelphia can’t reach it ceiling without Simmons healthy and providing value.
Even more modest goals in a disjointed season will be more difficult to reach.
The 76ers were just adjusting to playing Simmons at power forward. Now, they must again re-configure their plan – maybe for a significant chunk of the remainder of the season.
Even more burden falls onto Embiid, who has been shouldering so much with this mismatched roster. Simmons plays across the positional spectrum, so any number of 76ers could fill in while he’s out. Many of those lesser players will complement Embiid more smoothly than Simmons did. But the talent deficit without Simmons can’t be offset.
That’s the scary issue for now – and maybe a while.
