The Philadelphia 76ers are still playing some pretty solid basketball as they move on with their season despite a loss on Monday to the Washington Wizards. The Sixers have still won nine of their last 11 games as they continue to move up the standings despite missing a certain All-Star.
That certain All-Star is 25-year old Ben Simmons who requested a trade back in August. He has yet to play for the team through the first 43 games of the year as he has made it clear that he does not want to be a part of the organization anymore.
With the Feb. 10 trade deadline approaching, the focus around the league is on Simmons, but the organization could be waiting for the offseason so they can go after James Harden of the Brooklyn Nets in a sign-and-trade deal.
Simmons appears to be ready for that as well as per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the young star is ready to sit the entire season:
He does want to move on of course and restart his life in his career, but he’s been going very diligently to do work with his therapist and and I think the sense is, if it takes the entire season to trade him, if it takes all year for the Sixers to find a trade that is acceptable for them, he’s prepared for that. And it’s it sound unbelievable to think like a guy who is still getting fined for every game, for every practice, for every weightlifting session that he’s missing as of the January 15 paycheck that he got, there’s still heavy fines being laid on him every single time. He’s okay if it goes the whole season if that’s how it goes.
More details from Ramona on Ben Simmons:#NBATwitter https://t.co/9KyuOCNLee pic.twitter.com/HCFr0tfokG
— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 🗣️ (@_Talkin_NBA) January 17, 2022
The Sixers are also pretty content with letting this go the entire season. It could mean sacrificing a season of Joel Embiid’s prime, but on their side, the big fella is on board with the organization in letting this play out if it means the Sixers get what they want for Simmons.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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