Until the Ben Simmons saga has a resolution, it will threaten team chemistry, Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer contends.
Simmons still has a desire to be elsewhere, as a trade will heavily impact the Sixers’ rotation.
Other Sixers players could be headed elsewhere in a potential deal as well, but some players are trying not to read too much into the current situation.
“There’s obviously uncertainty,” Tobias Harris said. “Personally myself, I look at all of the uncertainty as a positive of what could happen. And in reality, the biggest thing is to just stay in the moment.”
More Sixers Notes
- Joel Embiid has been limited with pain in his right knee, as he wasn’t able to walk for two days after hurting it in their season opener last Wednesday, according to Ramona Shelburne of ESPN. Shelburne added that Embiid has trying to play through the injury given the current unavailability of Simmons.
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President of basketball operations Daryl Morey seems optimistic about the Simmons situation, saying “things seem to be moving very much in a positive direction” in a conversation with Amy Fadool of NBC Sports Philadelphia.
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Second-year guard Tyrese Maxey is experiencing “growing pains” while trying to take on the lead guard position in Simmons’s absence, Pompey relays (same article). Maxey is more of a combo guard than a primary ball-handler, as it took until the fourth quarter of the Sixers’ recent loss to the Knicks to register an assist.
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The Pistons could be without Jerami Grant (left-elbow contusion) against the Sixers on Thursday night, as he’s listed as questionable, per Pompey. Cade Cunningham is still out with an ankle injury, as he’s currently on assignment with the Pistons’ NBA G-League team, the Motor City Cruise.
