The Philadelphia 76ers may be able to convince Ben Simmons to report to training camp, but that does not mean the star point guard intends to play another game for the franchise.
The Sixers have reportedly had productive conversations with Simmons’ agent, Rich Paul, about the former first overall pick ending his holdout and returning to the team. That raises the question of whether Simmons is willing to play for Philadelphia this upcoming season. According to Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer, he is not.
One NBA source told Pompey that Simmons has not altered his stance on wanting a trade.
“You are never getting the same player back in Philly,” the source said. “You definitely are not getting him back in uniform. Even if he was in uniform, you are not getting back the same player.”
Simmons will be easier to trade if the 76ers can somehow convince rival teams that the relationship between them and the 25-year-old has improved. Given everything we have heard over the past several months, that will be no easy task.
We know of at least one team that has interest in Simmons, but Philly’s asking price remains too high. The Sixers are said to be seeking multiple first-round picks and an All-Star caliber player in any potential deal involving Simmons.
A report over the weekend claimed Simmons has one team on his wish list that may surprise some people. Unless something changes, a trade before the season still seems likely.
Photo caption: Dec 27, 2019; Orlando, Florida, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons (25) drives to the basket against the Orlando Magic during the second half at Amway Center. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Lakers are returning just three players from last season’s squad, and one of those players is not deluding himself about how long the team-building process will take.
Lakers star Anthony Davis spoke with reporters on Sunday after the team lost to the Phoenix Suns to fall to 0-4 on the preseason. Davis surprisingly admitted that the Lakers could struggle to start the regular season as well.
“We want to be good, but we don’t want to skip steps,” he said, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “You can’t rush the process of what we’re trying to do and win championships. We know, possibly, there could be struggles to start the season. But we never wanna get out to a slow start — 0-5, 0-6, whatever. We still want to be able to fight through our mistakes while winning games.”
While the Lakers’ Big Three of Davis, LeBron James, and Russell Westbrook has yet to play together, the early returns have not been encouraging. The team has a minus-74 point differential in their four preseason losses. In addition, they have already lost two rotation players in Trevor Ariza and Talen Horton-Tucker to fairly significant injuries.
On the bright side, the Lakers do seem to be taking their preparation for the season very seriously. With so many new pieces to integrate, they may have to take a page out of the Philadelphia 76ers’ book and trust the process.
Photo: Dec 18, 2020; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis (3) against the Phoenix Suns during a preseason game at Phoenix Suns Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
Former New York Jets coach Rex Ryan is very clearly not a believer in Mac Jones.
Ryan delivered a scathing critique of the New England Patriots rookie, dismissing Jones as a “peashooter” and comparing him unfavorably to Danny Wuerffel.
Patriots critics certainly got a lot of ammo Sunday as the team struggled and needed a late comeback to defeat the Houston Texans. How much of that actually falls on Jones is debatable. He went 23-for-30 with a touchdown, but also threw an interception and tallied a modest 231 passing yards.
Ryan is certainly one of those critics. His former position as Jets coach meant he had a regular rivalry with the Patriots, and it’s pretty clear he still doesn’t think too highly of them. It was just last year, after all, that he happily made a bold prediction about the team’s future. Maybe that’s coloring his opinion here, though to be fair, Ryan has not shied away from delivering very harsh critiques to other players.
Joc Pederson was traded from the Chicago Cubs to the Atlanta Braves prior to the deadline, and he brought a nice parting gift with him.
TBS pointed out that Pederson was using ex-Cubs teammate Anthony Rizzo’s bat when he smashed a pinch-hit, 3-run home run in Game 3 of the NLDS against the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday.
That was a monster shot and it accounted for the only runs of the game.
TBS’ observation called attention to the bat and even led Rizzo to send a text message to Joc. That’s what Pederson said in his postgame interview on TBS.
“He just texted me,” Pederson told Matt Winer. “I stole it from him when we were in Chicago. He’s got a lot of hits in it, so thanks, [Rizzo].”
Pederson has been coming up huge for the Braves. He also had a pinch-hit home run in Game 1 of the series and was 1-for-1 in the Game 2 win. Maybe the secret is all in the pearls.
Photo: Aug 27, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves outfielder Joc Pederson (22) reacts after flying out during the fourth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports
Saquon Barkley left the New York Giants’ game against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday with an ankle injury that looked quite serious, but the star running back might be back sooner rather than later.
Giants head coach Joe Judge told reporters on Monday that the team got “better news than it could’ve been” after Barkley underwent tests on his ankle. While Judge would not put a timetable on Barkley’s return, reports have indicated that the 24-year-old may only miss two or three weeks.
The Giants could play it safe with Barkley, as he spent all offseason rehabbing from a torn ACL he suffered last year. However, he has proven he is a fast healer.
Barkley’s ankle looked badly swollen on the sideline, but this is not his first ankle injury. He also had one in 2019, and initial reports indicated he could miss up to two months. He sat out just three weeks, so it would be unwise to doubt him this time.
Texas A&M will be paying a significant fine in light of its fans rushing the field after the team’s upset win over Alabama on Saturday.
The school will have to pay the SEC $100,000 as a result of Saturday night’s postgame field storming.
The field rush attracted extra attention in light of Alabama having to get off the field following the 41-38 Texas A&M victory. Video from the field showed Nick Saban’s security trucking anyone who got in the Alabama coach’s way.
Like it or not, that’s the exact sort of thing officials worry about when students run onto the field. The concern is that someone could get hurt amid all the chaos, which is why the SEC has a firm rule against it. That said, Texas A&M will probably be perfectly content to pay this fine.
Patrick Mahomes’ fiancee Brittany Matthews has been known to criticize NFL officials when things don’t go her husband’s way, but not all Kansas City Chiefs fans appreciate her enthusiasm.
The Chiefs were blown out by the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night, and Matthews had many of her usual Twitter complaints during the 38-20 loss. She tweeted at one point saying the “refs are never in our favor,” which drew a response from a Chiefs fan who feels Matthews complaining is a bad look for the organization. Matthews told the fan to “shut up.”
Matthews, who welcomed a child with Mahomes earlier this year, is always extremely outspoken. We saw a recent example of that when she ripped the officials over a pass interference call earlier this season. If the Chiefs continue to struggle, she’ll probably have a lot more to say.
The Phoenix Suns made the NBA Finals last season, but their fans probably still wonder what could have been if the team drafted Luka Doncic in 2018.
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon said recently on “The Hoop Collective” podcast that Suns owner Robert Sarver was the one behind the decision to take Deandre Ayton over Doncic.
“I’ve been told by multiple people who were with the Phoenix organization that [picking Ayton] was a total Robert Sarver move,” said MacMahon. “It sure wasn’t [then-Suns coach] Igor [Kokoskov]. He wanted them obviously to get Luka, and to put a big offer on the table for Clint Capela.”
MacMahon’s co-host, Brian Windhorst, added that Ayton attended college at the University of Arizona, where Sarver is “a proud alum.”
Kokoskov, who is now an assistant coach for Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks, was certainly no stranger to Doncic’s talent. He coached Doncic on the Slovenian national team, winning the EuroBasket title in 2017 with a teenage Doncic.
The Ayton pick worked out to an extent for Phoenix, as he was indispensable to their run to the 2021 Finals. But that run was largely viewed as a one-year blip that the Suns took advantage of thanks to a profusion of injuries in the West. Passing on Ayton, a future potential All-Star, to draft Doncic, a future potential MVP, might have given them a more sustainable championship window. Ironically enough, the Suns themselves do not even think that Ayton is a truly elite player, which is causing friction in their contract negotiations right now.
Faced with the scenario of having to build chemistry with Kyrie Irving only available part-time, the Brooklyn Nets may be taking action accordingly.
Nets head coach Steve Nash said this week that it is possible the team could bring Irving off the bench when he is eligible to play this season.
“It’s possible, yeah,” said Nash, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. “We’ll see. We haven’t really got there yet. We’re still trying to process all of the possibilities. That might take us some time to see where his body’s at. No one’s ever done that before. I wouldn’t know what precedents there are, and what’s the best way to do it. We’re really trying to navigate it as we go.”
Coming off the bench would be a major demotion for Irving, who was an All-NBA selection just last season. He has also started in all 652 games of his professional career thus far (regular season and playoffs).
That said, the Nets have championship aspirations and can ill afford to have Irving messing up the vibe of the starting lineup by constantly being in and out. They seem to be resigned to life without Irving, at least to some extent, and that may include leaving him out of the starting five entirely.
The Jacksonville Jaguars are 0-5, but you wouldn’t know it based on the goals Urban Meyer is setting for his offense.
On Monday, Meyer floated a statistical target for his offense — he wants to see them reach 250 passing yards and 250 rushing yards in the same game.
To say that’s ambitious is an understatement. Even the best offenses struggle to do what Meyer wants here. The 2019 Baltimore Ravens, who set the 16-game single-season team rushing record, only achieved the feat once that season. Meyer’s team hasn’t come all that close, as the 198 team rushing yards they posted Sunday was easily their best mark of the season.
This is one of those instances where it almost seems that Meyer still thinks he’s coaching Ohio State, not a winless NFL team. It’s unlikely to help his apparently sagging reputation among his players, not to mention with fans and the rest of the league.
