There’s something missing from the Sixers, and everyone knows what it is. Ben Simmons’ self-imposed absence is hurting the team, and wherever you are on his abilities on the court, he would certainly help the team as it’s currently constructed.
GM Daryl Morey is holding fast to his wish to acquire a “difference-maker” in return for trading away Simmons. To this point, no other team has stepped up with an offer that satisfies him.
Morey has said that finding the right deal for Simmons “could take four years.” Meanwhile, Simmons’ teammates try to fill in the hole left in the lineup.
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Veteran Sixers sharpshooter Danny Green offered his take on the ongoing Simmons saga – and why it may be tough to move the three-time All-Star – in the latest edition of his Inside the Green Room Podcast:
“The original approach was to try to get him to buy in, because we see him as a brother, we see him as family, want him to still be a part of our team. We still feel we have a really good chance of winning with him. So, that’s the first approach… if he came to us that way, and we did everything to try to change his mind and he still didn’t change his mind, then as family, as brothers, as friends, we’d be like ‘Alright, we’re gonna find you the best scenario where you can succeed, and makes sense for both parties.’
“Obviously those things never happened, those conversations never happened, these are all what-ifs. If that happened and we tried to find him a situation, of course we’re going to look for something in return that can replicate what he brings to the floor, what he brings to this team, which is very hard to find.
NBA
“He’s a special… he’s a unicorn, he’s a very special player. As much as people get on him and rag on him and say how he was this and that and how bad he is, he’s a very good player, he’s very hard to replicate. There are not many players in this league that can do what he does.
“That’s a tough scenario, a tough situation. That’s why the higher-ups have their hands full and they have the harder decisions to make, and it’s harder to find someone to replace him.”
On the one hand, Green’s not wrong in anything he said. Simmons’ skillset as an offensive playmaker (in the regular season) is one the Sixers sorely need right now.
But at the same time, other NBA GMs are likely finding it difficult to value Simmons as highly as Morey does.
For all that Simmons offers from a talent standpoint, you can imagine they likely are looking harder at his shortcomings, and how offering up a Top-25 player for Simmons is difficult to rationalize.