Now more than a quarter way through the 2021-22 NBA season, the Phoenix Suns and Philadelphia 76ers point guard Ben Simmons find themselves at complete opposite ends of the spectrum.
So of course, it only feels right to cook up something crazy to try and tie them together.
While the Suns sit atop the NBA, holding onto the league’s second best record at 23-5, Simmons is shackled up in Philadelphia’s sewers, unwilling to play and with his team also unwilling to trade him. Consequently, the Sixers look like a Walmart version of their squad from last year, with it feeling incredibly hard not to blame Simmons for all of it at this point.
With so much tension in the city of brotherly love stemming from this situation, something needs to give sooner rather than later. Both Simmons and the Sixers continue to poison each other with each passing day, hurting reputations, wasting Joel Embiid’s prime, and making “the process” look as ugly as Lonzo Ball’s jump shot when he first came into the league.
But this past week, the NBA declared “open season” on the NBA trade market, allowing teams to deal away their players signed this past offseason. That likely makes moving Simmons a more feasible task for Philadelphia, possibly ending this sad and dramatic soap opera.
Still, trading away a disgruntled star remains a tall task even with the trade floodgates now completely open. The Sixers might need some assistance from a third party, possibly allowing the Suns to step into the fold and profit off Philly’s desperate need to send Simmons packing.