Report: Ben Simmons no longer wants to be a Sixer, does not intend to report to training camp

The rumors have been flying around regarding Ben Simmons all summer long. The trade talks have been loud and we get the weekly, “the Sixers are going to trade Simmons, but they also might not” report. What we never really got was a trade request from him or his camp, however. Well, until now.

The Inquirer’s Keith Pompey reported Tuesday that Simmons met with the Sixers’ brass last week and officially requested a trade:

“In a meeting with the 76ers last week in Los Angeles, Simmons told team co-managing partner Josh Harris, president of basketball operations Daryl Morey, general manager Elton Brand and coach Doc Rivers that he no longer wants to remain a Sixer, according to multiple sources. Sources said the three-time All-Star also does not intend to report to training camp.”

This will go down as a pretty huge domino in the Ben Simmons trade saga. We’ve known for awhile that the team and Simmons’ camp were both on board with finding him a new home. There was never a clearcut trade request made, however.

Teams around the league will see this news, and it could impact the asking price from the Sixers’ side of things. Daryl Morey has had a huge asking price for Simmons — that much has been well-reported. This report could put the Sixers on the clock in a big way, especially if he flat out refuses to show up to camp.

How legitimate are Simmons and his camp about not showing up to training camp? That’s anyone’s guess. I personally have my doubts that a player with four years left on his contract would forfeit over that much money, but wilder things have happened in the NBA.

This report, more than anything, is Simmons’ camp putting pressure on the Sixers to make a deal happen. The Sixers have seemingly been taking their time with any Simmons trade talks. It makes sense as their prime target, Damian Lillard, hasn’t requested a trade as of yet. Simmons is viewed as a key to landing Lillard, whether that’s actually putting him in a deal or utilizing the assets gained from trading Simmons in a future transaction.

The writing has been on the wall for awhile now. This report, however, may finally speed up the impending change we’ve been waiting on for months now.

I’d expect the rumors and reports to become louder from here on out. We’ll keep you posted with everything here on Liberty Ballers.