The Philadelphia 76ers have reportedly denied Jake Fischer's report that they haven't ben able to get in touch with Ben Simmons since the season ended.
"Team sources denied reporting Monday claiming the Sixers have been unable to get in touch with Ben Simmons, saying both sides spoke as recently as his birthday," Kyle Neubeck tweeted on Monday.
Fischer was on a recent episode of the LibertyBallers podcast and said:
"They haven’t been able to really even get in touch with Ben since the season ended. Like, there was an intent to have a workout plan or whatever — like in any offseason. That’s always kind of been the case, that the Sixers haven’t been able to align with a development plan—that’s kind of what Yaron Weitzman wrote at Fox Sports in that big story. It just doesn’t sound like there’s ever been movement to come together on the same page to do that, and it hasn’t really worked this summer either. I think that’s not something that’s an encouraging sign for him being in Philadelphia in the future."
Ben Simmons
Age: 25
Current contract: 5 years, $177.2M
Years remaining on deal: 4
Respective cap hits: $33M, $35.5M, $37.9M, $40.3M
There has been a lot of speculation about the Sixers' looking to trade Simmons this offseason.
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"Ultimately you win or lose mostly with your players," Sixers president Daryl Morey said on June 22nd. "So it's my job to get the best players. Frankly, we didn't have quite good enough players. Again, I love how are young players are pushing our top players. I love the reaction that Doc got in the locker room with everyone and the meetings he's had to today. The reality is like, look, we need to be overall a better team with better players and we need improvement from the players that are here and we need better players brought in, and we'll make that happen."
Multiple reports—including one most recently from PhillyVoice.com's Kyle Neubeck—continue to state that the Sixers will not sell low on Simmons. Philadelphia is reportedly looking for a multiple-time All-Star.
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Two names that seem to be the most likely possibilities are Bradley Beat and Damian Lillard. The speculation is that Beal will request a trade from Washington, while Lillard says he plans to play another season for Portland.