Should disgruntled Sixers point guard Ben Simmons rejoin his Philadelphia teammates without the proper attitude, the feel-good vibes of the team’s 8-6 season start could take a hit, opines Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Simmons has yet to suit up this season, hoping for a trade out of town.
“I don’t think that’s something we thought about yet,” swingman Danny Green said of a potential Simmons-Sixers reunion this year. “We don’t think it’s going to happen any time soon. But it’s something that hasn’t really crossed our minds yet.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- With the Knicks set to play their next three contests at Madison Square Garden, Tommy Beer of Basketball News writes that they have an opportunity to improve the shaky chemistry that has led to the club going 2-4 in its last six games. Starters Julius Randle and RJ Barrett have struggled lately. Beer adds that playing at home will allow for head coach Tom Thibodeau to hold more practices than are possible on the road, which could help the Knicks kick-start their energy.
- To help improve the on-court performance of the Knicks‘ starting five, head coach Tom Thibodeau opted to give his starters stricter set plays and less improvisational optionality in a productive practice today, per Marc Berman of the New York Post. “The first thing you ask [is] are we playing hard enough and executing properly?” Thibodeau said. “If what we’re doing is not good enough, that’s when you change… In all fairness to Julius [Randle] and [starting point guard Kemba Walker], because of who they are, they probably get the brunt of what’s going on. The reality is we have to play well together as a group. It’s not one, two guys. We can say new guys, old guys. We can say first unit, second unit.”
- Celtics All-Star forward Jayson Tatum is struggling through one of his worst-ever shooting stretches, prompting Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe to consider the possible cause of the issue and potential solutions. Tatum currently has a career-worst shooting line of .388/.322/.742.
Even if Ben caves in and returns to the Sixers, I doubt he’ll have the proper attitude.
Exactly he wants out
My words to Ben Simmons
What is going to happen is going to happen
Why Knicks took on 2 losers in Walker and Fournier can only be explained as incompetent MGT. Don’t worry Knicks Nation, the idiot owner will make his presence known soon…
Randle was a loser before he joined….
DSJ was solid before he joined …..
Have some respect for Walker a former all star point guard that joined for next to nothing to return home and try make them better.
Walker joined for “next to nothing” because he was bought out by OKC, not because he is a hero.
Tatum is most overrated player in the NBA. Gonna be hard to win with him taking 30 shots a game, refusing to do anything inside.
You do know he plays in the same league as Ben Simmons, right?
And the same league as Russell Westbrook too.
The only reason the NBA gave Russ the MVP in 2017 was to make up for Oscar Robertson not winning it in 1962 when he averaged a triple-double. Both he and Wilt Chamberlain lost out to Bill Russell in the MVP race, that was also the year Wilt averaged 50 PPG.
Westbrook is no longer overrated, hasn’t been for a few years. We get it Wally, you hate all former Rockets.
He can’t help it. He has to comment on Golden State and/or any former Rockets. It’s truly bizarre.
Knicks just need to win next 3 winnable gms at home. Cause it gets much tougher after that. And things could get ugly real quick.
Ben for Kyrie ……. Best trade ever. Will save NBA and both teams.
Knick Al, if I was the Sixers, I would NOT give Simmons to the Nets. Just helping one of your chief rivals big time. Trade him to the Kings and get an unprotected lottery pick or two (bet the Kings are willing to part with Fox now if the Sixers still want him). No to the Blazers, I’d rather keep Maxey than take one of the Blazer guards. As far as I can tell, Sacto is the only team where they could get a good young player and a lottery pick.
Ben is fit to thib system.knick should trade for him.
What makes you think Kyrie would automatically get vaccinated and play if he got traded?
He doesn’t need to be vaccinated if he’s on the Sixers. He cannot play because of NYC vaccine mandates so he’s ok to play in philly. He can even play as a visitor in NYC if he were on Philly.
Tatum is getting too much boost and hopeful goal-achieving from HC Udoka… Tatum has a hard time knowing what’s what in a contest, so needs accuracy in coaching.
#FreeBenSimmons
#FarkBenSimmons
8-6 is a real “feel good” record.
Doc Rivers loses 7 for every 10 he wins, and is considered a great coach! Sad day and age when that is great and 8-6 is “feel good”.
Simmons cannot suit up for anyone BC of mental BS
Unless Thibs dinner plans include Sigmund Freund then Ben Simmons should be as far away from the Knicks as Maine is from New Mexico. Or regular Mexico even.
Knicks will be OK if they can build on the defensive performance they put in @CHA vs those of the last 2 home games. The extra off day, and 3 home games against beatable opponents, has me encouraged, of at least thinking that if they’re going to turn this around, we’ll see signs of it in this stretch. The offensive issues are of less importance for the moment.