- The longer the Sixers‘ battle with Ben Simmons continues, the less likely it becomes that either side will get what it wants, contends Mike Sielski of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The team began fining Simmons again this week and plans to continue until he cooperates with team doctors about his mental health treatments.
Matisse Thybulle is the latest Sixers player placed under the league’s health and safety protocols, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer’s Keith Pompey. Tobias Harris was placed under the protocols on Monday and Isaiah Joe was added to the list on Thursday. The entire team was tested for the virus before Thursday’s game against the Pistons and everyone else produced a negative test.
Thybulle, whose locker is next to Joe’s, was placed in protocols for contact tracing. That could leave the Sixers will just eight available players for Saturday’s game against Chicago due to protocols, injuries and Ben Simmons‘ situation.
The Sixers have resumed fining Ben Simmons, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who reports that the three-time All-Star was docked his $360K game check for Thursday’s contest vs. Detroit.
Sources tell Wojnarowski that the team intends to continue fining Simmons until he cooperates with team doctors on his mental health issues and resumes participating in other “basketball-related obligations.”
The Sixers originally put an advance payment for Simmons into escrow and fined him for missing games, practices, and other obligations during the preseason when he didn’t report to camp. After fining Simmons approximately $2MM for his failure to render services, Philadelphia decided to halt those penalties and remove his money from escrow when the 25-year-old told the club that he wasn’t mentally ready to play.
However, the team has reportedly been frustrated by Simmons’ unwillingness to accept off-court resources from the team or to provide any updates on his work with mental health professionals. According to Wojnarowski, 76ers officials believe they’ve been supportive of Simmons’ stated need for mental health assistance and believe they have no choice but to place his future salary back into escrow and continue fining him due to his refusal to share even basic details of his treatment.
The Sixers will also resume fining Simmons for a failure to participate in activities such as strength training, film study, and shootarounds, sources tell ESPN. Simmons has been present at the team’s facility to do some individual work and to have a back ailment treated, but hasn’t been taking part in any team activities.
Simmons had been set to receive the first of 12 upcoming pay checks starting on November 15, notes ESPN’s Bobby Marks (Twitter link).
There’s a provision in the Collective Bargaining Agreement that protects players’ salaries in the event they’re unable to render services “if such failure has been caused by the player’s mental disability.” As such, Simmons’ camp will likely fight back against the new fines he’s facing. If the two sides can’t reach an amicable agreement, it’s possible they’ll have to eventually take the matter to an arbitration hearing.
Despite having to deal with the Simmons drama and a handful of health issues, including Joel Embiid battling knee soreness and Tobias Harris testing positive for COVID-19, the 76ers are off to a strong start this season. They have a 7-2 record so far.
Knicks center Nerlens Noel made his season debut on Wednesday and drew some praise from his coach, Marc Berman of the New York Post writes. Noel had been sidelined by knee and hamstring soreness. He had two points and six rebounds in 18 minutes. “For the first game I thought he gave us some really good minutes,” Tom Thibodeau said. “Good activity. Rim protection. Effort plays. A lot of good things.” Noel re-signed with New York this summer on a three-year, $32MM contract.
We have more on the Atlantic Division:
- Furkan Korkmaz has changed agents, according to Sportando’s Emiliano Carchia. The Sixers wing will now by represented by Jason Glushon and Dan Tobin. Korkmaz re-signed with the team on a three-year, $15MM contract this summer.
- Sixers forward Tobias Harris was placed under the league’s health and safety protocols on Wednesday and he’s experiencing COVID-19 symptoms, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. “He’s doing OK, but not great, honestly,” coach Doc Rivers said. “That’s the most I’m gonna say about it. But it hit him, for sure. A lot of guys have had this and they are mad like, ‘What the hell? I’m fine.’ Tobias is not in that category right now.”
- Raptors coach Nick Nurse said that Precious Achiuwa earned the starting nod at center and doesn’t plan on making a change despite inconsistent play, Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sports tweets. “We don’t expect (the young guys) to play great every night,” Nurse said. “It doesn’t mean we’ve got to change the starting lineup. I think we just stick with it and see how it goes.” Achiuwa has gone 5-for-27 from the field in his last three games.
- On a recent episode of his The Scoop podcast, Darren Wolfson of SKOR North stated that it has been a little while since Timberwolves head of basketball operations Sachin Gupta talked to the Sixers about Ben Simmons. “About three-and-a-half, four weeks ago, he did plant the seed with the Philadelphia front office that, ‘Yeah, I’m interested in Ben Simmons,'” Wolfson said, per HoopsHype. “But I’m now told he hasn’t had any dialogue about Ben Simmons with Philadelphia for a couple weeks.”
Sixers shooting guard Isaiah Joe has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (Twitter link), who says Philadelphia is now testing the entire team for COVID-19 as a precaution ahead of Thursday’s game vs. Detroit.
While it’s not yet confirmed, it’s possible Joe has tested positive for COVID-19, like teammate Tobias Harris did earlier this week.
With over 95% of the NBA’s players now vaccinated, the league’s testing guidelines aren’t as strict as they were in 2020/21. However, vaccinated players are still required to be tested if they show symptoms or are determined to be a close contact of an individual who tested positive. In this case, the 76ers likely just want to confirm they don’t have an outbreak on their roster before taking the court against the Pistons later tonight.
If Joe has tested positive for the coronavirus, he’ll need to wait at least 10 days or return two consecutive negative PCR tests at least 24 hours apart before he’ll be cleared to return to action.
Trail Blazers star Damian Lillard has acknowledged that he reevaluated his future in Portland following a frustrating 2020/21 season and first-round playoff loss. However, after a summer of soul-searching, the six-time All-Star appears more committed than ever to the Blazers, expressing that sentiment again this week after he received cheers from Sixers fans in Philadelphia, as Tim Bontemps of ESPN details.
“I know what it is and I know what it’s about,” Lillard said after the game. “But I’m a Trail Blazer. I appreciate the love. I appreciate the respect that they showed and the desire or whatever but I’m 10 toes in Rip City, and I’ve said that time and time again, and tonight I laughed about it during starting lineups but that was that.”
Lillard has spoken a little over the last month about his recommitment to the Blazers, but he went into more detail on his thought process in a conversation with Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, revealing that he weighed his decision for two months and met in Los Angeles with Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis during the offseason.
According to Lillard, James and Davis didn’t push him to become a Laker. Even if Lillard had expressed interest in such a scenario, the odds of Blazers president of basketball operations Neil Olshey trading him to Los Angeles would’ve been virtually non-existent, Haynes notes. Still, LeBron asked him how he felt about his situation in Portland and talked about what it might look like if he were to leave. For his part, Lillard expressed reluctance to join a super-team.
“I was just saying, I don’t know if this is the route I wanted to go,” Lillard told Haynes. “And that was pretty much how the conversation went.
“… I’m sure it would be great to play with LeBron and AD and play in a big market, but as attractive as it sounded and as fun as that might be, I don’t feel in my heart that that’s who I am or where I belong. And one thing I want to emphasize is that this decision (to stick with the Blazers) wasn’t made out of comfort. I’m not afraid to be out of my comfort zone, because I’m going to live here when I’m done playing regardless. I made my decision based on what I actually want to do.”
Haynes’ in-depth look at Lillard’s decision-making process includes a ton of interesting tidbits and is worth reading in full. Here are a few more of the most noteworthy quotes from the Blazers star:
On his decision to remain in Portland:
“I want to win here. I’ve attached myself to the history of this organization and this city. Just in thinking about how long it’s been since they’ve won, I want to be a part of that coming to an end. I want people to say, ‘When Dame came through here, he rode all the way out for us through the good and the bad. He was ready to sink with the ship.’
“… If I did decide to go do something else, there’s also no guarantee that I’m going to win it by moving on. So, my best bet is to stick to my guns and do what I care about in my heart. … You look at some of the dudes around the league that was at the top of their game and they made one move and now they’re on this team, next year on another team and now they’re somewhere completely different. As much as I want to win, I want to do it my way.”
On whether he’s satisfied with the moves the front office has made and the team’s direction going forward:
“The conversations I’ve had with Neil, he didn’t promise me we’re about to get LeBron. They didn’t tell me we’re about to go get a superstar player because I don’t think you need all superstar players to win. We’ve got CJ (McCollum). He’s an All-Star-level player. We’ve got (Jusuf) Nurkic. He’s one of the best centers in the league. It’s the way you piece the team together.
“If you look at Phoenix, they don’t have a bunch of stars. They got people who are really good at what they do and understand their roles. Chris Paul and Devin Booker are All-Stars, but Deandre Ayton is a quality center, Jae Crowder is an experienced, quality stretch-four man that’s tough, Cam Johnson is nice and Mikal Bridges is my favorite small forward in the league. You just look at how that team is put together and they’re in the Finals coming out of the West. That’s what my vision is. … We have the core pieces to do the same thing that Phoenix did. It’s just how you fill that in.”
On what it would be like to eventually win a title with the Blazers:
“If I was to get that championship for Portland, I would cry, bruh. Bruh, on the spot. I would really cry, bro. I want to win a championship here. And because of how strongly I feel about that, I don’t know how rewarding it would feel for me at this point if I won somewhere else. Winning it here would be a lifetime achievement for me.”
Sixers president Daryl Morey approached Ben Simmons on Wednesday to inquire about his status and was told the three-time All-Star remains mentally unready to play and continues to seek professional help, tweets Shams Charania of The Athletic. Charania adds that there’s still no timeline for Simmons’ return to the court, echoing a Tuesday story from ESPN.
While Tuesday’s report suggested the Sixers are becoming frustrated with the lack of updates from Simmons, Charania tweets that team officials have remained supportive and aren’t requesting specific details about the 25-year-old’s conversations with doctors. However, they would like some feedback from him on the process. Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice wrote something similar earlier today, suggesting the club is seeking a “status update,” rather than “minute-to-minute details” on what Simmons is up to.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- In addition to being without Simmons and Tobias Harris, who tested positive for COVID-19, the Sixers are currently missing Danny Green, who is dealing with left hamstring tightness. As Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer writes, if Green has a strained hamstring, he could be out anywhere from a couple days to a couple weeks.
- Mayor-elect Eric Adams said he’ll “revisit” New York City’s COVID-19 vaccination mandate when he takes office on January 1, according to Amanda Woods and Sam Raskin of The New York Post. That could be good news for Nets guard Kyrie Irving, who has been sidelined due to his vaccination status. However, Adams may only be referring to the mandates for municipal workers like police officers and fire fighters, and even if he revisits the city-wide mandate for indoor venues, there’s no guarantee he’ll make any changes.
- Asked by Michael Holley of NBC Sports Boston (video link) if the Celtics have the “right group” of players to contend this season, president of basketball operations Brad Stevens replied, “We’re going to find out.” Stevens added that he feels like the team is better “from a structural standpoint” than its 2-5 record suggests.
NOVEMBER 3: Harris has tested positive for COVID-19, according to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link).
As Wojnarowski notes (via Twitter), in order to return to the court, a player who tests positive has to either wait 10 days after his initial positive test (or the onset of symptoms) or register two consecutive negative PCR tests 24 hours apart. He also has to pass cardiac tests before being cleared.
NOVEMBER 1: Sixers high-scoring forward Tobias Harris is out for their game against Portland on Monday due to the league’s health and safety protocols, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets.
A timetable for Harris’ return should be established in the next 12-24 hours, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. Shams Charania of The Athletic adds (via Twitter) that Harris will likely miss a few games.
The Sixers have already produced plenty of drama early this season due to the ongoing Ben Simmons saga. Simmons has yet to play this season and Joel Embiid is resting a sore knee. Embiid had an MRI on Sunday which revealed no major concerns, per Ramona Shelburne of ESPN (Twitter link), and is expected to return to action on Wednesday.
Harris is averaging 19.8 PPG, 9.0 RPG and 4.2 APG through six games this season. Furkan Korkmaz will start in his place.
Harris is the second prominent player placed under the league’s health and safety protocols on Monday. Cleveland’s Kevin Love is expected to miss several games for that reason.
4:32pm: Simmons has met with team doctors to treat a back ailment, but hasn’t been willing to discuss his mental readiness with the club’s doctors, according to a full report from Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski at ESPN. He has also engaged with teammates and members of the coaching staff in one-on-one situations at the practice facility, but it’s unclear if or when he’ll rejoin full team activities.
Sources close to Simmons tell ESPN that they expect to provide updates to the Sixers once the 25-year-old is comfortable doing so.
4:03pm: There is “frustration mounting” within the Sixers over Ben Simmons‘ unwillingness to keep the team apprised of his status, ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne told colleague Malika Andrews today during a TV appearance (video link).
When Simmons told the team on October 22 that he wasn’t mentally ready to play, the Sixers stopped fining him for missing practices and games and offered him any off-court resources he needed to work through the situation. However, according to Shelburne, Simmons hasn’t been accepting any of the help or resources the club has made available.
Shelburne hears that Simmons has been working with mental health professionals through the National Basketball Players Association, but “hasn’t really kept the team in the loop” on the work he’s doing or progress he’s making. Besides not sharing any updates with the 76ers, Simmons also hasn’t resumed practicing with the club, having only conducted individual workouts.
There’s “no timeline” for Simmons’ return to practices or games, according to Shelburne.
Given that Simmons wasn’t in contact with the Sixers for months during the offseason, Shelburne’s update doesn’t come as a major surprise. Simmons’ actions don’t mean his claim that he’s not mentally prepared to play wasn’t made in good faith, but there was never any real indication that he’d reversed course on his desire to not play another game as a Sixer.
Team president of basketball operations Daryl Morey has stated that he won’t be rushed into making a Simmons trade before he gets an offer he likes. And while Morey’s claim that it “could take four years” was certainly an exaggeration, it seems unlikely that any deal will happen until at least December 15, when more players around the league become trade-eligible. If Simmons maintains radio silence in the coming days and weeks, the Sixers will have to decide just how much space they’re willing to give him.