Ben Simmons is reporting to the Philadelphia 76ers after all. On Monday night Simmons entered the Walls Fargo Center as the 76ers were playing the Brooklyn Nets in preseason action. The Australian point guard appeared at the arena to take his coronavirus test, which is currently required by the National Basketball Association in order for all players to be with their team, according to Jason Owens of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The 76ers situation at point guard was the biggest issue for the team heading into training camp, as we addressed in the 76ers’ fantasy report earlier in the week. The bottom line is that having Simmons orchestrate the 76ers’ offense makes Philadelphia significantly more dangerous than if Tyrese Maxey would have been the starting point guard.
Simmons had previously asked for a trade, but it his request has not been granted for now, at least. Due to Simmons’s conflict with Philadelphia management, he did not report to 76ers training camp when players were scheduled.
Philadelphia is expected to be one of the elite teams in the Eastern Conference this season. The 76ers have a strong starting five which includes shooting guard Seth Curry, small forward Danny Green, power forward Tobias Harris and center Joel Embiid to complement Simmons. Philadelphia also has a hungry head coach in Doc Rivers, who is looking to win his second NBA championship after winning a title with the Boston Celtics in 2008.
In 2020-21, the 76ers had the best record in the East at 49 wins and 23 losses. They were one game better than the second place Brooklyn Nets. However, in the NBA Playoffs, the 76ers underachieved. They did defeat the Washington Wizards in five games in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals, but then were upset by the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
Philadelphia will also be counting on a better playoff from Simmons in 2021-22, who was not very good last year when the games mattered most. In the final three games of the series against the Hawks, Simmons only scored a total of 19 points.
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