Sixers: Ben Simmons’s ultimatum puts Philly in a bad spot

The relationship between Ben Simmons and the Sixers has deteriorated to the point where it’s nothing but a festering sore.

After one of the most befuddling playoff vanishing acts we’ve seen from a max-level player in recent history against the Atlanta Hawks, his teammate Joel Embiid and coach Doc Rivers addressed matters by not pretending everything was fine.

The Philadelphia 76ers have found themselves in a tough spot as Ben Simmons has delivered an ultimatum. Is there any easy way out for the Sixers?

Ben Simmons is not a man to be chastised or corrected either privately or publicly, and as a result, he has essentially cut ties with the Sixers organization. According to his camp, Simmons won’t report to camp and is more than willing to pay fines due to the no-show nature of his protest.

It’s hard to move a malcontent, largely because a team with such a player really has no choice but to move him. Other teams know it, and any leverage you think you have is shot. Add to that the fact that the Sixers are trying to trade the idea of Ben Simmons as much as anything, a max-level Defensive Player of the Year candidate who can pass the ball with the best of them, but other teams see the Simmons who disappeared in the second round of the NBA playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks.

The truth of Ben Simmons is somewhere in the middle. He’s not as good as the package that Philadelphia is trying to sell, and he’s not nearly as bad as whatever that was against Atlanta, but the Sixers have no leverage so he might as well be.

Simmons wants to play in California, but he’s going to have to settle for whatever team is willing to ship a package somewhat close to what the Sixers are looking for, Or Best Offer. That may well be a dismal destination like the Minnesota Timberwolves, or someplace like the San Antonio Spurs where Gregg Popovich will try to coach the debatably uncoachable Simmons or lose his ever-loving mind in the process.

To top it off, Ben Simmons is represented by Rich Paul and Klutch Sports, as is Sixers teammate Tyrese Maxey. According to Bleacher Report’s Jason Dumas, Paul would like to get both of his clients out of Philadelphia ahead of the coming season.

When president of basketball operations Daryl Morey arrived in Philadelphia this past offseason, his plan was to see how things worked out with Simmons (at least once the rumored trade proposal for James Harden fell through). Sometimes that gamble will pay off, but in this case, things have gone about as badly as possible.

Maybe Morey has a trick up his sleeve to make a trade work. He’s known for some pretty preposterous trade scenarios in the past, so it’s not something you can put past him. But at this point, he’s going to need to work some magic in order to salvage this situation, no matter how things end up playing out.