Why the Sixers MUST Keep Simmons

Yes, you read that headline correctly. The Philadelphia 76ers MUST hang on to Ben Simmons for at least one more year.

Credit: Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

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Before I make my case, I completely understand why Philly fans are vehemently upset. The 76ers had a magical season that hasn’t been seen since Kobe Bryant had an afro. Joel Embiid put up MVP-caliber stats and played through injury after injury for this squad only to lose to Trae Young and the trash-talking Atlanta Hawks in the second round.

Simmons was drafted to be Magic Johnson to Embiid’s Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and in an era defined by easy scoring, Simmons’ lack of point production has been one of the biggest controversies and most polarizing issues in the City of Brotherly Love.

Compound Simmons’ lack of scoring with Stephen A. Smith’s reports that the point guard’s work ethic is in question stirs the pot of a clusterf**k stew.

FURTHERMORE, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that Rich Paul, Simmons’ agent, met with Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin to discuss the Australian native’s future with the organization and it’s clear the future is murky to say the least.

Despite ALL of this (and yes, it’s pretty damning evidence.), I truly believe that the Sixers HAVE to keep the superstar point guard for at least one more season so let’s just jump into the three reasons why Philly needs to hang on to its superstar point guard.

1. Allow him to build back up his trade value

First things first, let’s assume both the team and Simmons want to move on from each other. At this moment in the offseason, there is absolutely no way that the Sixers would get proper value. Per Spotrac.com, Simmons is still under contract for four years and is owed $33 million next season, which rises to over $40 million for the 2024-2025 season.

Every single GM and executive in the league will try to lowball the Sixers as much as possible, which will piss off Sixers fan even more when they trade him for picks and some decent role players.

Most recently, the James Harden trade personifies this idea of lowballing trades when a star is publicly disgruntled with a team.

For the sake of this article, I’m just going to focus on what the Nets and Rockets each received in the trade just because four team trades make my head spin.

TO ROCKETS: Victor Oladipo, Dante Exum, Rodions Kurukus, three Brooklyn unprotected first-round picks, four pick swaps, Milwaukee’s 2022 first-round pick (via Brooklyn)

TO NETS: James Harden, 2024 second-round pick

If you want to check out the full trade package, here’s the link to ESPN’s article on the deal.

A player of Simmons’ potential can garner an enormous amount of compensation, which is why he was mentioned as a potential asset in a Harden-to-Philly trade, but why should the Sixers make this move when it is win-now mode?

Oladipo, the best player in this deal besides Harden, only played 20 games for the Rockets and was then traded again to the Miami Heat before his season was cut short by another quad injury.

By some miracle, the Sixers get a superstar player in return for Simmons, there is no assumption that player stays for more than two years, like Paul George landing in Oklahoma City before requesting a trade two years into a max contract extension.

At the very least, Simmons has earned the right to play at least half of next season and build his trade value back up and see if he can prove the doubters wrong. Worst case scenario, the Sixers give themselves no other choice but to move on from Simmons OR he finally unlocks his true potential.

Hell, the Sixers have already made this mistake with the Jimmy Butler trade. Just because the organization lands a household name, this era of basketball defined by player movement offers no guarantee that player stays with the team, so why take a massive gamble when Philadelphia has a homegrown talent with superstar potential?

2. The Sixers need backcourt depth

Yes, Simmons’ scoring (or lack-there-of) was exposed in the playoffs against the Hawks, but does that really wipe away what’s been an awesome year?

According to Statmuse.com, Simmons finished second in defensive rating, behind only Rudy Gobert, the Defensive Player of the Year and led the league in steals during the regular season.

And when the spotlights were at their brightest, Simmons stepped up defensively. When the Sixers hosted the red-hot Dallas Mavericks in February, Simmons locked UP Luka Doncic. Coming into the contest, Luka was averaging almost 30 points per contest.

After the clock hit triple zero’s, Luka finished with 19 points, more than ten below his season average, while Simmons put up an efficient 15 points on 6-11 shooting and a fantastic +15 in +/-.

That’s just one example but it’s a microcosm of Ben’s role with this team for the whole season-a defensive superstar that pushes the tempo and orchestrates the offense, not be the offensive microwave that catches fire whenever he wants.

Plus, do you really want to rely on a depth chart of Curry, George Hill, Tyrese Maxey and Shake Milton to fill the shoes of a three-time All Star and one of the most physically gifted players in the NBA in the regular season and playoffs? I’ll take my chances with the 6’10” LeBron-clone.

If Paul George can go from hitting the side of a backboard to making the Western Conference Finals for the CLIPPERS of all teams, then there’s no doubt in my mind Simmons can bounce back.

3. This was an adjustment season.

When Daryl Morey and Doc Rivers were hired by Philly, we all thought well, let’s see how the season goes. Then, Morey made some brilliant offseason moves by acquiring Seth Curry, Danny Green and Dwight Howard to bring championship experience into the locker room.

No one could’ve ever predicted the Sixers were going to go on this run. Sure, analysts and insiders were projecting Philly to be in the mix for top three or four in the Eastern Conference but the majority of their arguments were the lack of competition in the East compared to the West.

Then the season started and we all thought the same thing Oh sh*t, maybe this is something. We were surprised that the starting lineup was this potent, averaging more than 110 points per game.

And for Simmons, going from the bonafide second option on offense to trying to get Curry and Green open shots is a stark transition for any player and to his credit, the LSU alumnus did a great job of staying locked in and acting almost like a Dennis Rodman-Scottie Pippen hybrid.

Simmons could’ve easily taken the petty route and refused to go to into late-game situations (*cough* *cough* Scottie Pippen) or complain about his small role in the offense (looking at you, Jimmy Butler) but at the VERY young age of 24, Simmons accepted his role and used his physical gifts and high IQ to exponentially improve his defense.

Hence, why he called himself the best defensive player in the league. Now that his defense is keyed in and it’s unlikely he’s going to play for Australia in the Olympics, it’s completely within reason to assume that Simmons will become more aggressive in his second year with Doc Rivers.

I know us Philly fans are extremely emotional because of the misery we've suffered for years but Simmons is only in his FOURTH SEASON. Joel Embiid just turned 27. Now that the Brett Brown era is over and Daryl Morey is making calls, the Sixers have real stability in the organization for the first time ever in the pair's careers.

Just because the Sixers lost a hard-fought series to a tough opponent does not mean the Sixers should pull the trigger on a trade that will surely plummet this team back to the lottery.