NBA Rumors: Ben Simmons won't be paid the $8.25 million owed to him by Philadelphia 76ers as he awaits his trade
The Philadelphia 76ers and Ben Simmons continue to be the talk of the NBA world. With Simmons continuing to reiterate that he does not plan to show up to training camp, the Sixers have also solidified their stance on the matter. As reported by Shams Charania today, the Sixers are not going to pay the portion of Simmons' contract that was expected today.
Sources: The 76ers are not paying Ben Simmons his $8.25 million payment due today as the three-time All-Star awaits a trade. Simmons still is not showing up to Philadelphia and has understood the ramifications of his holdout.
It's another episode of the drama that continues to go on between Simmons' camp and the Philadelphia 76ers. Throughout the offseason, it's been reported that the three-time All-Star wants to be traded from the Sixers. There have been a number of reports that have stated that Simmons wants to be traded to a team that will build around him. When asked about those reports yesterday during media day, Sixers star Joel Embiid had some interesting comments of his own.
Joel Embiid on the Ben Simmons situation in Philly: https://t.co/eS04D5iP9d
Now the question is who will be the first to flinch in this latest installment of the drama between the Sixers front office and Ben Simmons. A number of reports have come in that stated that Simmons is well aware of the ramifications of him not showing up to camp.
What can happen is that if Simmons is eventually traded, that portion of his salary can be paid at a later time. Another avenue that Simmons could go is to show up to camp without necessarily playing. That seems like a route that would be considered highly unlikely, for obvious reasons of creating more of a spectacle than it has already become.
It seems as if each day there has been a shift in the direction of this situation between the two sides.
Are the Sixers waiting for the right deal to come along to trade for Ben Simmons?
With the Sixers' first preseason game set to take place on Monday, as well as the NBA regular season expecting to start in around 18 days, time seems to be running out for the front office to make a move when it comes to the disgruntled star.
The Sixers simply might not be in a rush to make a decision either. Much like what happened with James Harden last year, Philadelphia could simply wait until the situation turns into one in which a team might increase their offer for the 25-year-old. One thing is for sure, this looks to be a situation that isn't going to have any resolution any time soon. For the sake of basketball, and Philadelphia 76ers fans, we can only hope that this story can come to a conclusion soon.