Ramona Shelburne Reveals Why the Sixers are Bent on Keeping Ben Simmons While He Isn’t Interested

The Sixers are lately in the news for the rumor of making Tobias Harris available for trade and also for acquiring Andre Drummond from the Lakers. However, they still have their case around Ben Simmons pending and until that sees the day of light, nothing else matters as much. 

The 76ers enjoyed a memorable 2020-21 regular season where they did not allow the Brooklyn Nets to claim pole position. But unfortunately, they faltered in the playoffs and fell against the Atlanta Hawks in the EC Semis. A lot of that series loss had to do with Ben Simmons and hence a heavy interest in trading him. So is that trade finally happening or not?

The Sixers want to give Ben Simmons another chance to show his talents

In a recent interview, American sportswriter Ramona Shelburne revealed a twist in the tale. Earlier, everyone believed the 76ers wanted Ben Simmons out while that narrative has shifted.

The 42-YO exclaimed, “The Sixers are open to bringing him back. They would prefer and say, we don’t want to trade this guy who can win DPOY, who is a young superstar in the making. Just come back and let’s work on this. But it doesn’t seem like there’s a bridge there that is being walked across by both sides.” 

Now, this desperation from the Sixers can result from multiple NBA franchises rejecting their Harden-esque offer to trade Ben. So rather than diluting their demands, the Sixers now prefer to place a bet on Simmons and keep him in Philly. As per the 6’11” point guard’s contract, he still has four years left on it before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2025. 

Read more – BREAKING: Massive Update on Ben Simmons’ Future Before NBA Draft 2021

Doc Rivers and Joel Embiid probably hurt the Fresh Prince

Notably, after the Sixers’ Game 7 loss against the Hawks, coach Doc had agreed he wasn’t sure if Ben Simmons can be a PG for a championship-winning team. After him, the team’s star center Joel Embiid had also expressed how Ben’s struggle on the floor led to a decisive turnaround against them.

Perhaps all of these comments hurt the 25-YO Aussie. As Ramona further established, “I don’t know if Ben Simmons has that interest right now because things were said afterwards, after the season, Doc Rivers said certain things, Joel Embiid said some things. I know they’re trying smoothing out the things but it doesn’t seem that Ben is interested right now.”

Now all this has made it a very tricky situation with no side leaving the ring unscathed. So what’s your opinion, should Ben Simmons reconsider staying in Philadelphia? Help us know in the comments section below.

Watch this story – Sixers’ Ben Simmons, Lakers’ Kyle Kuzma, and Other Top Players That Had a Very Poor NBA Playoffs 2021