Some Philly team sources comment here. https://www.phillyvoice.com/ben-sim...ey-eastern-conference-doc-rivers-news-update/
I guess we'll see how determined he is when it starts costing him money to sit out. H won't be getting any paychecks and, I'm not sure about this, but it may be Philly can fine him too (maybe not as the missed paychecks are the fine)
the 76ers motto this season might be 'contortions-r-us'. They have dug a deep hole, then painted themselves into a corner at the bottom of that hole. And it sure looks like Morey seriously over-played his hand while calling the Simmons bluff of sitting out the season. Of course, that might not have been a bluff and then Philly has a giant mess in that corner at the bottom of the hole as for the Lillard 'news' there, I'd dispute the idea he's been provided the "roster upgrades" he had in mind when he went 'ballistic'. But to me, it seems pretty clear that a big part of his reaction after the Denver series was motivated by that very recent major disappointment to him personally. he thought last year's team was different than previous versions, but the playoffs proved that assumption wrong. He had a masterful series, but got almost no support. But as time has passed, I think his loyal nature and affection for Portland, the city and the team, has pushed out the disappointment and left him somewhat near where he was before the Denver series. Rip City blood running thru his veins that not to say if this season goes south, badly, he won't be back to that level of disappointment. But he's a long ways from that point right now, IMO suck it Philly fans by the way, how do you find all this stuff? Have you got some kind of Blazer-centic search engine that scans the net, the twitterverse, and instagram?
Well how his contract is structured, he can very well sit out. On the first day of the season, 16 million of his 33million per year will be guaranteed and kick in.
if he's sitting out, I'd imagine he'd be violating his contract, meaning Philly wouldn't have to honor the terms I'd wonder though is he could show up late in the pre-season, dress for the first game of the season, then sit out again. Could he collect that 16M then...?
back on IG sleuthing.... Nurk liked the Woj update on Simmons on IG for some reason. Also, Dame's cousin and de facto team chef (he cooks for Simons/et al) posted this...
What's the over/under on how long it takes Simmons to get his fragile little feelings hurt and turn against the team he gets traded to?
If I'm reading this right, the fine for missing a game is 1/145 of his salary (for <20 games) and 1/110 for >20 games. http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q107 If this is the case, then Ben would still be able to collect ~25% of his salary even if he sits out the entire year.
there's also this.... It's pretty much at the team's discretion whether they'll fine him. I don't think they do. The backlash internally would be too great just to make a point.
Sixers are absolutely fucking delusional if they think we would give them Dame after they tried to play Chicken on which Star wants out first. If Olshey is the holdup...well you know my feelings on that. I'd trade any one in a reasonable configuration not named Lillard for Simmons. Meaning no more than two starters or a Starter a young guy and picks. Interesting all the attention Blazers players have on the Simmons situation. What about CJ and RoCo do either of them follow him? I could see RoCo following him from back in the day. CJ seems interestingly absent from the interactions with Simmons. That's a hopeful sign as in he might know he would be the one being traded rather than some other package. The fact Nurk and Dame's cousin is paying close attention is very, VERY interesting especially given Nurk is a Klutch client and isn't savvy at all about IG because he gives precisely zero fucks.
cj is the pres of the players union. i wouldn't pay much credence to who he follows/what he likes. roco and ben were teammates, so not much there. however, i'm just reading way too much ben to portland noise on twitter from accounts that our players or league personnel follow. And the sportsbooks clearly show how the majority thinks about his next destination. May be nothing, but it's the last week of the offseason, and i've been on this ben stuff for so long now that i'm desperate for news. (also it's hilarious that this simmons "update" today from Woj is taking off on social, when it was already reported by multiple sources both in Philly and by guys like Marc Stein yesterday. shows just how much he's separated himself from all other NBA twitter personalities).
Only an idiot would ask for Dame and offer Simmons in exchange. A bigger idiot would do it. Dame is so much more than just his stats. He is a true assassin on the court, as we have seen. The heart of a fucking lion. In terms of killer instinct he is up there with Durrant, Curry, and Lebron. He destroyed the entire OKC team with one shot, a team that has since been in "rebuild mode" and is just acquiring picks it seems. I get it. Philly has no real leader on the team. Embiid is not the guy, clearly, to lead a team. Same with Luka, Jokic, etc. All great great players, but they don't have that extra something special, at least yet anyways. Like any player of his caliber Dame just needs an excellent duo around him to go all the way. Simmons is the antithesis of a leader.
but, training camp starts Sept 28, and that pay date is Oct 1. If Simmons doesn't report o the 28th, I'd imagine Philly would have legal justification for withholding that 25% by claiming Simmons is in breach of his contract
CJ could really be that leader for them and as Simmons' value further tanks, I think Morey would be smart to offer Simmons and a first for CJ. It makes Philly better than they were last season right away, it gets rid of the Simmons fiasco and it incentivizes Neil to get the deal done and feel like he won; even if Neil isn't sure the fit is ideal. The situation gets even murkier for Morey if Simmons actually starts to sit out regular season games.
Maybe they fire Rivers to keep Simmons? He was the one that really through him under the bus. Lot easier to replace a coach. Morey knows how to do that!
