The 2025 offseason passed without Ben Simmons finding a team. He now seems to have a destination in mind.
The former first overall pick in the NBA draft saw his career reach its lowest point last year with his release by the Brooklyn Nets and an unproductive stint with the Los Angeles Clippers. He remains a free agent and indicated interest in returning to the Philadelphia 76ers when he liked a comment on Instagram saying he would be a good fit for the team last week.
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He demonstrated his interest again Tuesday, when he responded to a question about the Sixers by saying he would play there for free, while hinting at other issues, such as his health.
The exchange:
If @sixers asked you to come back to play center/pf, would you come back with a minimum contract, would you do it
Simons: it’s not a question of $, I’ll go for free. It’s deeper than they make you believe, that’s why I keep pushing 🤐, the focus is 100% on the body before putting my health on the line…like I have been for the last few years
So that’s what Simmons has been doing lately.
The 29-year-old’s career simply hasn’t been the same since a messy divorce with the Sixers that saw him skip training camp and the preseason and rack up nearly $20 million in fines. which resulted in a grievance and settlement. Philadelphia eventually traded him and his nine-figure contract to Brooklyn, but he was then sidelined by surgery for a herniated disc in his back.
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Before surgery, Simmons was limited offensively to his complete lack of shooting outside the paint, but still had value thanks to his passing, rebounding and first-team NBA All-Defense performance. Since the surgery, he has struggled to stay on the field and has seen his numbers plummet across the board.
The idea of a healthy Simmons on a league-minimum contract — about all he could get at this point — could be attractive to teams but, as the man said himself, he still has to get to 100 percent. And it seems unlikely that the Sixers will be one of those teams, even with their own depth issues, given their history.
