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Trade wars: 76ers coach ‘very bullish’ on Aussie NBA star
Philadelphia 76ers head coach Doc Rivers is singing the praises of Aussie NBA star, Ben Simmons
The Ben Simmons trade buzz is showing no signs of slowing down.
Simmons has been under fire for his performances with the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA playoffs.
Despite Simmon’s free-throw line struggles, with the Philadelphia 76ers dumped out of the NBA postseason, Rivers says he is “very bullish on Ben”
Rivers’ comments seem to indicate that he doesn’t want to trade Simmons.
In fact, Rivers delivered a strong show of support for his point guard, telling TMZ Simmons is great, he wants him back and he is terrific.
“But there’s work. There is. And Ben will be willing to do it, and that’s the key. Sometimes you have to go through stuff to see it, and to be honest with it.”
It follows reports the 76ers have already rejected an offer from the Pacers for Simmons.
Simmons enjoyed a solid 2020-21 regular season, averaging 14.3 points and earning an All-Star selection.
He averaged only 9.9 points per game and shot 33 per cent from the free throw line in the conference semi-finals.
ESPN reported that Simmons’ 34.2 per cent free-throw percentage through the postseason was the worst in NBA history from a minimum of 70 attempts.
The playoffs were another story, of course. In the deciding game seven, Simmons only attempted four shots from the field.
We’ve heard the head coach say a few times now that Simmons will be putting in the hard work, but it remains to be seen whether Rivers can convince the Philly hierarchy to bank its trust in Simmons… or if the Aussie will be putting on a different singlet next season.
The scrutiny on Australia’s Ben Simmons has been intense
For now, Simmons has decided to opt out of the Tokyo Olympics in an attempt to spend a full-off-season remedying his offensive limitations.
Australia’s head coach Brian Goorjian confirmed the news in a statement released by Basketball Australia last week on Tuesday morning (AEST).
“I have spoken with Ben and whilst we wanted him to be a part of our team, we understand and support his decision and he has made it clear that this is something that he wants to be a part of in the future,” Goorjian said.
“It is a pretty rough time for him right now and I know it is something that he wanted to do, but the timing just hasn’t worked.”
“We wanted him to know that in his time of need, the culture and the guys here are behind him and support him”.
