Ben Simmons A Hawk? I'd do it in a heartbeat.

[AHF]

1 hour ago, RedDawg#8 said:

The biggest thing is that Philly fumbled the bag on acquiring Harden for Simmons. Now, they are holding out for a top tier player that likely wont materialize anytime soon.

However, there are ebbs and flows to this. If they panic now, they will come up short. But by sticking to their guns, I think they will eventually be able to swing something beneficial. If Portland cannot improve beyond another early exit from the playoffs, Dame will likely ask out. Don't sleep on Zion as well. Both his inner circle and his agency do not like the Pelicans organization. Imagine a swap of Simmons for a Zion. Wouldn't you do that if you are New Orleans and you know Zion is not going to stay around?

This is their best bet. Fine Ben if he doesn't want to show up to work. His value is already at an all time low, but people still highly regard his talent. When teams get desperate, they will look at Ben as an excellent prize to replace a disgruntled superstar. 

They may sacrifice wins this season, but the big picture, long term play is still potentially in their favor if they can weather the storm.

I like this approach.  I wouldn't hold out for a Dame or Zion but wouldn't take a $.50 on the dollar deal either.  If Portland is currently unwilling to offer McCollum, for example, there is no way I want to take less than that this early.   By holding out it at least keeps a big deal as a possibility but trading right now seems to be the absolute floor which would bar the door on that.  Simmons wants out but has done all this in a way that tanks his value.  Kind of casually sinking the best possibility for actually leaving Philly (which is to let management know a hurricane of badness is coming if they don't deal him - badness like refusing to play or something - while keeping your trade value high enough before that deadline that the team can find a deal that works).  

[JayBirdHawk]

3 hours ago, RedDawg#8 said:

The biggest thing is that Philly fumbled the bag on acquiring Harden for Simmons.

Wasn't it more so the Houston owner didn't want to send Harden to Morey?  I don't remember how that went.

[RedDawg#8]

1 hour ago, JayBirdHawk said:

Wasn't it more so the Houston owner didn't want to send Harden to Morey?  I don't remember how that went.

TBH, anything not Hawks related I'm going off what the cable talking heads say. I'm sure they are over-exaggerating the situation but they make it seem like Philly had a chance and wanted to play a little hardball and KD was able to convince the Nets to put in a bid before Philly could commit to a deal.

I'm sure the Morey thing was a factor which is why the Rockets were easily swayed to do business with the Nets at the last minute. 

[Diesel]

5 hours ago, AHF said:

That to me is a trade more about Haliburton than anyone else.  Hield is one of those guys who is "nice-to-have" but is probably not worth what he is getting paid and so doesn't end up bringing a lot of trade value.  The 1st would be a bit of a wild card; not sure if that team makes the playoffs or not.  Haliburton would be huge for Philly for their future - kind of like a much cheaper, more raw, less proven version of some of the other guys they have been apparently interested in pursuing like Malcolm Brogdon.  

People think that Philly needs a star to replace Simmons.   The trade I outlined would be a perfect fit.  I agree with what you said about Hield...He's there for salary purposes but he also brings you another player who can hit a three off the bench.   I don't see him replacing Curry.   But Haliburton becomes the PG of now and Haliburton.. though a rook has shown that he can hit the three. 

[RedDawg#8]

45 minutes ago, Diesel said:

People think that Philly needs a star to replace Simmons.   The trade I outlined would be a perfect fit.  I agree with what you said about Hield...He's there for salary purposes but he also brings you another player who can hit a three off the bench.   I don't see him replacing Curry.   But Haliburton becomes the PG of now and Haliburton.. though a rook has shown that he can hit the three. 

That's what Philly has repeatedly said and stood on.

If they wanted less than, Simmons would have been gone by now. 

Even a large haul of controlled assets would not be an easy choice for theme.

They want a player back that can bring a similar impact to the floor as the one they are trading away.

Realistic or not, their stance is clear. 

[JayBirdHawk]

 

 

[RandomFan]

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Freakin chump.

 

[Spud2nique]

1 hour ago, RandomFan said:

HAHAHAHAHAHA! Freakin chump.

 

For the looooove of mooooonaaayyyy. This guy is just a damn phony.

[Final_quest]

Imagine what he's walking into.  The entire organization and fans threw him under the bus, and now they have to answer media questions every damn day until he's gone.  Every time he scores two points in the 4th and the Sixers lose... Every time he passes up shots at key moments...  Even when he helps them close a game out, they are still gonna hound Doc and Embiid with petty questions about Simmons.  Not the best environment for winning.  

[Atlantaholic]

55 minutes ago, Final_quest said:

Imagine what he's walking into.  The entire organization and fans threw him under the bus, and now they have to answer media questions every damn day until he's gone.  Every time he scores two points in the 4th and the Sixers lose... Every time he passes up shots at key moments...  Even when he helps them close a game out, they are still gonna hound Doc and Embiid with petty questions about Simmons.  Not the best environment for winning.  

Ben deserves criticism for his performance down the stretch in the playoffs but the way the 6ers handled it, specifically Doc Rivers was embarrassing. As a coach you don't throw players under the bus like that, specially singling out one player when there were PLENTY of players and plays you can point at in that game 7. Mathisse fouling on Huerter three was the single biggest play of the game, way bigger than the Simmons play, and then Embiid fading in every fourth quarter of every game, but you've got both Embiid and Doc just taking explicit shots at Ben after the game... to me that shows complete lack of leadership from your HC and your star player. 6ers wanted a scapegoat to excuse their percieved underperformance and it isn't fair to Ben who really was just what he always has been in those playoffs. 

[AHF]

1 minute ago, Atlantaholic said:

Ben deserves criticism for his performance down the stretch in the playoffs but the way the 6ers handled it, specifically Doc Rivers was embarrassing. As a coach you don't throw players under the bus like that, specially singling out one player when there were PLENTY of players and plays you can point at in that game 7. Mathisse fouling on Huerter three was the single biggest play of the game, way bigger than the Simmons play, and then Embiid fading in every fourth quarter of every game, but you've got both Embiid and Doc just taking explicit shots at Ben after the game... to me that shows complete lack of leadership from your HC and your star player. 6ers wanted a scapegoat to excuse their percieved underperformance and it isn't fair to Ben who really was just what he always has been in those playoffs. 

He was completely different in terms of being unplayable at the line.  Before this year, he was a 60% shooter in the playoffs.  So I disagree with that along with the pity party for Ben.  He ran away and refused to talk to anyone which inflamed the situation.  
 

I blame Doc because while I think he was beyond frustrated and vented in front of the camera he needs to be mature enough to know better with a fragile ego star.  Embiid is less at blame.  He is known for being honest and wacky when answering questions and when Ben’s people are saying things like he wants to go to a team that will design it’s offense around him then it is totally fair to acknowledge that Philly already did that.

Plenty of guys have choked and taken hits in the press in the past.  It was Simmons taking his ball and going home that blew the story up into the event of the summer.

[Atlantaholic]

4 minutes ago, AHF said:

He was completely different in terms of being unplayable at the line.  Before this year, he was a 60% shooter in the playoffs.  So I disagree with that along with the pity party for Ben.  He ran away and refused to talk to anyone which inflamed the situation.  
 

I blame Doc because while I think he was beyond frustrated and vented in front of the camera he needs to be mature enough to know better with a fragile ego star.  Embiid is less at blame.  He is known for being honest and wacky when answering questions and when Ben’s people are saying things like he wants to go to a team that will design it’s offense around him then it is totally fair to acknowledge that Philly already did that.

Plenty of guys have choked and taken hits in the press in the past.  It was Simmons taking his ball and going home that blew the story up into the event of the summer.

Yea Doc is 100% to blame, but at the same time if you are Embiid you could have taken ownership instead of piling on. If you want to criticize Ben do it behind closed doors but to cut him down in the press conference is pathetic. I don't remember Jordan throwing his teammates under the bus after getting bounced by Detroit even though he would have been justified in doing it. If your HC and star player  can't overcome a single play that resulted in a 1 point swing in a 1 posession game with 4 minutes left, there are issues there that won't be solved by getting rid of Ben. Let's see how they do without him next year. 

[JeffS17]

1 hour ago, Atlantaholic said:

Ben deserves criticism for his performance down the stretch in the playoffs but the way the 6ers handled it, specifically Doc Rivers was embarrassing. As a coach you don't throw players under the bus like that, specially singling out one player when there were PLENTY of players and plays you can point at in that game 7. Mathisse fouling on Huerter three was the single biggest play of the game, way bigger than the Simmons play, and then Embiid fading in every fourth quarter of every game, but you've got both Embiid and Doc just taking explicit shots at Ben after the game... to me that shows complete lack of leadership from your HC and your star player. 6ers wanted a scapegoat to excuse their percieved underperformance and it isn't fair to Ben who really was just what he always has been in those playoffs. 

This is how you know Doc is a phony.  He's a bad coach and has the maturity of a teenager.  He bought into the media narratives as the head coach of the team.  The Sixers were mostly killing us with Ben on the floor -- we won the games with our deep bench.  Doc acts like a couple missed free throws and a passed layup lost them a 7 game series.  The intentional fouling was not even that effective... Doc as the head coach completely failed to handle those situations and it showed on the court and after when he immediately tries to rid himself of accountability.

[kg01]

36 minutes ago, JeffS17 said:

This is how you know Doc is a phony.  He's a bad coach and has the maturity of a teenager.  He bought into the media narratives as the head coach of the team.  The Sixers were mostly killing us with Ben on the floor -- we won the games with our deep bench.  Doc acts like a couple missed free throws and a passed layup lost them a 7 game series.  The intentional fouling was not even that effective... Doc as the head coach completely failed to handle those situations and it showed on the court and after when he immediately tries to rid himself of accountability.

I detect no lies in this post.  But that's not what caught mine eye.  It was .. it was the snarkiness ... the dismissiveness ... the dismay ... the utter disdain ... it was glorious.

Ohhh jeffy, I knew you had it in you ...

[Spud2nique]

4 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I detect no lies in this post.  But that's not what caught mine eye.  It was .. it was the snarkiness ... the dismissiveness ... the dismay ... the utter disdain ... it was glorious.

Ohhh jeffy, I knew you had it in you ...

 (initiation hazing performed by.. well @hazer duh ) Red velvet a$$ Jeffeyyy!!!! 

[kg01]

5 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

 (initiation hazing performed by.. well @hazer duh ) Red velvet a$$ Jeffeyyy!!!! 

Meanwhile, jeff is all ..

[hazer]

17 minutes ago, kg01 said:

I detect no lies in this post.  But that's not what caught mine eye.  It was .. it was the snarkiness ... the dismissiveness ... the dismay ... the utter disdain ... it was glorious.

Ohhh jeffy, I knew you had it in you ...

 

11 minutes ago, Spud2nique said:

 (initiation hazing performed by.. well @hazer duh ) Red velvet a$$ Jeffeyyy!!!! 

 

5 minutes ago, kg01 said:

Meanwhile, jeff is all ..

So y’all inviting just anybody/errrbody to join the band, huh. I ain’t splitting my damn gig money, Jefè coming outta YALL’s pocket

[Final_quest]

A lot of blame to go around in that series.  Simmons did play like he was scared of the ball.  Not to stand up for Doc Rivers, but he may have gone to the media as a last resort.  

After repeated warnings to Simmons, he finally had to take the nuclear option and force the front office and Simmon’s agent into action by saying he wasn’t wanted.  

Sometimes you go to the media to put pressure on the other parties involved.  Doc could be saying “I reject being forced to treat a garbage player like he’s a franchise cornerstone.”

[JeffS17]

1 hour ago, kg01 said:

I detect no lies in this post.  But that's not what caught mine eye.  It was .. it was the snarkiness ... the dismissiveness ... the dismay ... the utter disdain ... it was glorious.

Ohhh jeffy, I knew you had it in you ...

Oh, my snarkiness has no bounds!!  My wife can confirm.  I try to stay positive though so that's why I come here and get cheered up by @Peoriabird

 

[Spud2nique]

Did Rich Paul advise him to get kicked out of practice and suspended a game? Lol. Ben playing hard ball and so is the team. Fun times!