The 76ers tanked for four straight years. They lost 253 total games with a win percentage of .228. All so they could build around Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons.
That plan will end without an NBA championship.
After a swarm of trade rumors involving Simmons, the three-time All-Star reportedly asked to be traded and will not show up to training camp if he isn’t moved by then.
Losing Simmons this way is a reflection of the Sixers’ own incompetence — a failure to appease superstars and develop draft picks.
Dating back to 2014, Embiid, Simmons, Furkan Korkmaz, and Tyrese Maxey are the only first-round picks who remain. And they have nobody else to blame but themselves.
Maybe most indicative of the failed Simmons experiment: His confidence was so low he passed up a wide-open dunk that would’ve tied Game 7 against the Hawks. Fans booed and cussed at him.
It’s gotten to a point where Embiid is weighing in on Ben — discussing how some handle criticism differently. “I love when I’m told I can’t do something,” Embiid tweeted yesterday. “It makes me work harder to prove everyone wrong, but not everyone is built like that.”
If Simmons doesn’t figure out how to shoot the ball, it’ll be awfully difficult to find success on any team.