NBA Rumors: 76ers’ Ben Simmons could be out for an extended period
NBA Rumors: As Ben Simmons undergoes additional tests, it’s sounding more and more like he’ll be out of the Philadelphia 76ers’ lineup for an extended time
As the Philadelphia 76ers attempt to right the ship on what has been a rocky first two-thirds of the regular season, it appears that the team will have to turn the corner on the season without Ben Simmons.
While Simmons is still undergoing evaluation, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski’s reporting suggests that he could be out of the Sixers’ lineup for an extended amount of time. With a little more than 20 games remaining in the regular season before the playoffs, this is certainly not an ideal situation.
In the words of Woj, it’s a matter of how much time Simmons will miss and not whether he’ll miss any time.
ESPN Sources: Sixers star Ben Simmons is still undergoing treatment and evaluation on his back and there’s expected to be a course of action decided upon soon. This isn’t a day-to-day injury; Simmons will miss time. How much time? That’s still unclear.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 24, 2020
Head coach Brett Brown added that the team isn’t sure how or who will replace Simmons in the lineup as the new starting point guard. However, it’s safe to say that it will likely come by committee.
There’s really no one replacement on the roster that could fill the explosiveness and production of Simmons.
Brett Brown says he doesn’t have one person that he’ll hand over the starting PG duties to. Suspect Raul Neto will get the first crack at them tonight but made it clear it will be a PG-by-committee approach.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 24, 2020
Brown also mentioned that the hope is that there will be a more definite answer on how long the rehab process will be for Simmons moving forward. The Sixers are working with Simmons’ team to find the best course of action moving forward, per Brown.
The Sixers expect there to be an answer within the next 24 hours as to what the course of action will be. They said they are working in conjunction with Simmons and his team to decide what next steps will be. Declined to categorize the injury in any way as far as a timeline goes. https://t.co/7lyUmt0XSO
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) February 24, 2020
These are certainly ominous reports coming out of the Sixers’ camp. Although, there is hope that he won’t miss much time. Ideally, Simmons would be back before the start of the playoffs. However, back injuries are extremely difficult to predict.
Each injury is different and every player progresses at a different pace. The good news is that the Sixers have a two-game cushion over the Indiana Pacers for the fifth seed and are only 1.5 games back of the Miami Heat for the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference.
Odds are that they’ll finish somewhere in that 4-6 range heading into the playoffs. Plus, it’s not like either the Heat or Pacers are playing particularly well at the moment. The Heat are just 8-10 since Jan 10 and the Pacers are 3-8 in their last 11 games.
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While the injury to Ben Simmons isn’t ideal, the Philadelphia 76ers might be able to survive if he isn’t out through the playoffs.