Sources: 76ers hold $8.25M owed to Simmons
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Tim Bontemps
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Brian Windhorst
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ESPN Senior Writer- ESPN.com NBA writer since 2010
- Covered Cleveland Cavs for seven years
- Author of two books
The Philadelphia 76ers did not pay Ben Simmons the $8.25 million — 25% of his contract — that he was owed Friday and placed that money into an escrow account, sources told ESPN.
Moving forward, the 76ers will deduct any fines that Simmons accrues as the season progresses. If, or when, Simmons shows up, he will be given the money that is remaining in it, sources told ESPN.
The next line of demarcation in this saga will come Monday, when the 76ers play their first preseason game in Toronto against the Raptors. If Simmons doesn’t return to the team before that game, he will be fined roughly $227,000 — the same number Simmons will be fined for every game he misses going forward.
Sources told ESPN that in the meeting between Simmons and Philadelphia’s leadership last month, the team made Simmons aware that this was a possibility – and, at the time, Simmons responded by saying that he understood that, and that it would not change his stance either on reporting to Philadelphia or rescinding his trade request.
“We’re in it for the long haul,” a source close to Simmons told ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne this week.
When asked about the possibility of withholding this money from Simmons – who already received another $8.25 million on Aug. 2, as his contract states he will get two 25% chunks of his contract before the season begins — Philadelphia’s president of basketball operations, Daryl Morey, refused to say what would exactly happen but did leave this possibility open.
“I’d say we’re not going to talk about the specifics of fines or things like that, but I will say it’s pretty clearly spelled out in the CBA and in his contract what happens,” Morey said during his preseason press conference Monday.
As the 76ers returned to the court this week — and Simmons did not — the temperature on this situation has only risen.
Morey tried to spin it in a positive direction during his news conference Monday, saying that he compared to the tumultuous offseason between Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers — only for Rodgers to return and, the night before that news conference, lead Green Bay to a last-second win over the San Francisco 49ers.
“I think there’s a lot of hope,” Morey said. “I would say I watched last night a player lead his team to victory when a thousand pounds of digital ink were spilled on how much he would never play for that team again.
“Look, every situation is different, but we have a lot of optimism that we can make it work here.”
Superstar center Joel Embiid also initially expressed optimism about reuniting with Simmons, saying he was disappointed that the situation had reached the point it had between the two sides but that he still believes he could win with him as his co-star.
“Honestly, I would probably say I’m disappointed,” Embiid said. “Because I — look, obviously we haven’t won anything, but just going by what has been said through the media and you guys tweeting on your sources and stuff, I would look at it in the way that, look at what we’ve been able to do. … In the regular season we’ve been so good, and so dominant, that we know it’s working. … I’m disappointed that we’re in this situation. … I’m just disappointed he’s not here, because he knows it, too. He knows we can win together.”
In the wake of a subsequent report in The Athletic that Simmons had decided he couldn’t, actually, win alongside Embiid, the big man shot back during a lengthy answer when asked about it by reporters after practice Thursday afternoon.
“”The situation is disappointing, borderline kind of disrespectful to all the guys that are out here fighting for their lives,” Embiid told reporters at the team’s practice facility in Camden, New Jersey, going on to say that the idea the Sixers hadn’t built their team around Simmons was also incorrected.
“I feel like our teams have been built, whether it’s the shooting need or stretch 5 and all that stuff, I feel like [Simmons] always had it here. And we still have it,” Embiid said, before listing all the 3-point shooters on the roster. “… Our teams have always been built around his needs.”
“It was kind of surprising to see,” Embiid added, referring to the report. “We’ll say that, even going back to the reason we signed Al. We got rid of Jimmy, which I still think it was a mistake, just to make sure [Simmons] needed the ball in his hands. That’s the decision they made. Like I said, it is surprising.”
ESPN’s Bobby Marks contributed to this story
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Jesse Rogers
CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was placed on the injured list on Friday with a right calf strain, the team announced before its game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s expected to miss “more than a month,” according to manager Craig Counsell.
Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his last wind sprint after a bullpen session on Thursday.
“He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time,” Counsell said.
Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season who just got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury. Now they’ll have to navigate at least the rest of this month without one of their other key starters.
“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our advantage and we’ll go from there.”
The team recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, though he won’t go directly into the rotation. Instead, the Cubs will throw a bullpen game on Saturday against the Cardinals and “go from there,” according to Counsell.
Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his past five starts dating to May 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, compared to just three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting average.
The team might also consider a bigger role for righty Chris Flexen who has been fantastic for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 games, including a four inning stint late last month.
“He’s a candidate to be stretched out for sure,” Counsell said. “He’s prepared to do a little bit more.”
Cubs brass have already stated they are looking for starting pitching before the trade deadline later this month. Counsell was asked if Taillon’s injury increases that need. He didn’t take the bait.
“The trade deadline isn’t until July 31,” he said. “I’m focused on the next week or 10 games before the All-Star break.”
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