76ers’ Daryl Morey digging heels into Ben Simmons saga: ‘This could take four years’

ORLANDO, FL – JULY 23: Daryl Morey, GM of the Houston Rockets, talks on the phone during practice as part of the NBA Restart 2020 on July 23, 2020 in Orlando, Florida.
(Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)

“You are going to think I’m kidding. I’m not. This could take four years. The conditions I pointed out to you don’t change unless Ben Simmons is traded for a difference-maker. We are in the prime of Joel’s career … So this could be four years,” Morey said.

“This not a day-to-day thing. This is like every day we are going to expect Ben Simmons to be back here, or we are trading him for a difference-maker. There’s no other outcome that doesn’t materially hurt our chance to win the championship in Joel Embiid’s prime.”

Simmons has been put under the microscope since the team’s early exit from the NBA playoffs earlier this year. He reportedly asked for a trade and rebuffed a meeting with his fellow teammates in the offseason.

Philadelphia 76ers’ Ben Simmons takes part in a practice at the NBA basketball team’s facility, Monday, Oct. 18, 2021, in Camden, N.J.
(AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

Joel Embiid gave Simmons the harshest criticism to date earlier this week after the point guard was booted from practice and given a one-game suspension.