For several years Ben Simmons was considered a fundamental building block of “The Process” that would restore the Philadelphia 76ers to glory. But at the NBA trade deadline, his time in Philly came to an end.
Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond were all traded to the Brooklyn Nets yesterday in exchange for James Harden. It took them a while for everything to be finalized, but the 76ers have officially completed the deal – and said farewell to Simmons.
This morning the 76ers offered thanks to their three departing stars. It was a five-word tweet that said “Thank you Seth, Andre & Ben,” followed by an image of the three players.
Unfortunately for the 76ers, fans aren’t exactly thrilled that they’re giving Simmons any sort of positive sendoff. The comments section is filled to the brim with fans that are bitter of how Simmons stopped playing for the team this year.
The most common response has simply been to cut Simmons’ image out of the picture, leaving only Curry and Drummond:
Let me fix that for you pic.twitter.com/7FsN7F1GYh
— Ciaran 🏀 (@Matisse22SZN) February 11, 2022
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Thank you Seth and Dre 🙁 We’ll miss you guys!
— 𝗧𝗿𝗲 💎 (@SixersTre) February 11, 2022
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Fixed* https://t.co/x5YRDyxIbD pic.twitter.com/3O75ZZtsHq
— Steve Morgan (@MrPeanut1016) February 11, 2022
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Ben Simmons was the No. 1 overall pick by the 76ers in the 2016 NBA Draft. After not playing his first year due to an injury, he had a breakout campaign in the 2017-18 season. The 76ers made the playoffs that year, ending a five year drought.
In the three years that followed, Simmons made three straight All-Star games. But his shooting ability barely improved and the 76ers just couldn’t find a way into the Eastern Conference Finals.
The 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals turned out to be the last straw for Simmons and the Sixers. Simmons was historically bad in that fateful series, and effectively left the team afterwards.
Now he’s off to Brooklyn – and will probably face his former team again in the very near future.
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