It’s that time again.
And you should know, because you’ve seen it before; bad news for the Philadelphia 76ers – be it a defeat, injury, or reckless off-season move – wear out, before their many, lot of the problems boil down to that annoying question: Should Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid be separated?
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It’s annoying, but there’s a reason it keeps coming back. And whether you like it or not, it will take success, in the form of an NBA championship, for it to go away.
The reason is simple. Both Simmons and Embiid are superstars at the league level. Both have MVP ceilings. Both have the Defensive Player of the Year roof. Basically, they are too good to keep failing.
But failing is what they will do once again this year after it is revealed that Simmons will miss the rest of the season with a left knee injury.
Last season, they were within a couple of rebounds of the Eastern Conference Finals. The year before they were sent off in five matches in the same phase.
And while an injury can, and likely will, be blamed on wherever they end up making it out of the playoffs this season, the reality is that they would never have won a championship in 2020.
Philadelphia’s biggest failure? Letting Jimmy Butler and JJ Redick walk out the door, and then seemingly forget who they were trying to build around.
The Sixers were to replace Butler’s ball handling and scoring and Redick’s shot, and instead brought Al Horford with a $ 109 million deal that begged for conviction, while doing next to nothing to add to their three-man threat. points.
In a shock to no one but the Sixers, I suppose, it didn’t work, as Horford and the $ 28 million he was earning this year were moved to the bench.
Josh Richardson has proven he’s a Jimmy-lite in some ways, but it’s hard to watch Tobias Harris, who got the top deal on Butler, and say the Sixers made the right choice.
Doncic Antetokounmpo clowns
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But of course, the same old talk is alive and well; bouncing all over the walls of talk shows in the United States. And now?
“Time to think about it,” said Jalen Rose of Simmons and Embiid’s breakup. “Think about it this way. This time last year Damian Lillard took down the Oklahoma City Thunder in the playoffs; broke their team to the point where Paul George is now with the Clippers and Russell Westbrook is now with the Houston Rockets.
“Did you see what the Oklahoma City Thunder gave Paul George when they sold him to the Clippers? They have so many choices in the first round. And of course, you don’t want to give up on a young Joel Embiid superstar when you’re healthy, and Ben Simmons, an All-NBA artist. But those two players are your best value game. “
When the Clippers moved in for George, they gave up on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Danilo Gallinari and five, yes, five, first-round picks. Sure, he was with the knowledge that it was also the price to pay to get Kawhi Leonard to sign, but Rose is right, and there are teams out there preparing packages to tempt the Sixers into a deal.
According to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com, the Cavaliers are looking for a star and Simmons is “the one to watch”.
Should Philadelphia suffer an early playoff exit than expected, which now seems a certainty, an NBA executive told Fedor that the Sixers will have to choose between Simmons and Embiid.
“The Cavs, of course, would have an interest in Simmons,” Fedor wrote.
“He has the talent and versatility to immediately change the future of the team. The Sixers would like loot for 2016’s # 1 pick which is locked away until 2023-24 and will likely be named to the All-Defense First Team.
“But the Cavs believe they have enough to assemble a tempting package, especially with the recent first rounds littering the roster, a top six pick coming in October and a future Milwaukee Bucks first.
“Those choices, combined with one of the young guys and a little salary, is a good start.”
The discussion, however, is too simplistic. And theorising about Simmons and Embiid’s future is the wrong conversation to have, at least right now. It’s the low fruit in the trouble garden in Philadelphia.
“If it were up to me, I wouldn’t pull that plug,” Jackie MacMullan told ESPN’s Get Up.
“I think you are talking about two young players, who I would say have yet to reach their peak, who I think will end up becoming Hall of Famers.
“… I understand why people are frustrated in Philadelphia, but these two players proved they can play together last year.
“The lack of perimeter shots surrounding them this year has only exacerbated the problems they encounter when teams start blocking them in the middle of the pitch.
“I wouldn’t want to break up Embiid and Simmons. Not on my watch. “
Brown spearheaded another failure, and the obvious front office mistakes should be the real talking point.
“I’m not breaking up Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons,” said Kendrick Perkins. “Both of these guys are generational talents, and both are young stallions.
“Like Jackie said, they haven’t even reached their peak.
“… If I were the 76ers I’d divorce Brett Brown … that’s the only change I’d make.”
The news cycle will go on, but make no mistake, when the Sixers – with Simmons watching from home – clash against the Celtics next month, it will be half of the biggest topic of discussion.
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