Daryl Morey has surprised in the Philadelphia Media Day assuring that the team’s plan was not to transfer Ben Simmons until he has requested it. The Sixers president of basketball operations points to the player’s representatives as the triggers for the current situation.
“They came to meet with us and asked for a transfer shortly after the season; I’m talking about their representatives in Chicago. We weren’t looking to transfer him, ”says the executive.
It’s hard to believe Morey, or at least not to qualify him. We all remember that last season he put Ben Simmons on the table to try the transfer of James Harden, something that finally did not catch on when he finished this in Brooklyn. The 76ers point guard may not have posted the available sign, but it was clear that if another opportunity came, they would not hesitate to exit. In short: they did not seek to exchange it, but they were not going to put many obstacles to it either.
The bottom line is that Philadelphia stopped trusting his player and that he felt that way. We are not going to go into the team’s motives or if one or the other has more reasons, but the reality is that the relationship seems hopelessly broken. Recently the franchise has tried to convince Simmons to be in training camp and start the season with them; so much so that they even prepared an expedition of teammates that the All-Star stopped.
There is no way back. We don’t know when, but Simmons will be traded from Philadelphia. In the end he will not leave a great legacy in the City of Brotherly Love, perhaps because of him. The team surely won’t get a great package either, perhaps because of him. There are quite a few things that have not been done well.
(Photograph by Andy Lyons / Getty Images)
