It sure sounds like Bernie Lee just confirmed rumors of the Boston Celtics being interested in signing Ben Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, last summer.
“When free agency began, [the Celtics] requested a meeting with a client I had at the time who had underperformed for years and was going to be on a vastly reduced contract, with the thought that if he could prove he was healthy, his value would return,” Lee wrote in a piece for HoopsHype on Thursday.
Lee didn’t explicitly say that Simmons was the client with whom the meeting was requested, but it’s not difficult to connect the dots. As of Feb. 26, Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler and Sacramento Kings big man Precious Achiuwa are the only two active players who Lee represents, according to RealGM.
Simmons, who hasn’t played this season, is the only other player who fits into this story. Lee reportedly dropped the former All-NBA forward from his client list back in September, according to NBA insider Marc Stein.
“As Ben Simmons decides his next career steps, I'm told Bernie Lee has notified [NBA Players Association] that he has formally removed himself from the union's ledger as Simmons' agent,” Stein wrote in his Sept. 1 newsletter last year.
According to The New York Post’s Stefan Bondy, Lee’s decision was made after Simmons "sent signals that he wasn't interested in whatever came from his agent's conversations with the [New York] Knicks."
More or less, Lee got the feeling Simmons wasn’t serious about playing in the NBA anymore and dropped him.
Joe Mazzulla and Ben Simmons would've been an interesting watch
Now, it’s always fun to learn little tidbits about what deals didn’t get done, but ultimately, there’s nothing to this. Simmons is retired(ish) and the Celtics are doing just fine without him.
What is worth imagining, however, is the potential for a chemical reaction like nothing before. Picture Ben Simmons, whose agent dropped him because he was no longer serious about playing professional basketball, interacting with Joe Mazzulla, Boston’s head coach who can’t fathom taking the court with anything less than a burning desire to win games, on a daily basis.
It either would’ve been like splitting atoms at the Auerbach Center, or Celtics University would’ve got Simmons playing a level where he could impact winning.
The three-time All-Star has fallen off quite a bit since his days of headlining the league’s star-studded exhibition. He played a total of 275 games across his first four seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, and only 108 since sitting out and demanding a trade in 2021-22.
In recent years, the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers had used Simmons as a defacto big man as a way to try and optimize his interior offensive game, size, and rebounding ability.
He was okay in the role, but, again, nowhere near what he once was. There’s a reason why Lee had hoped he’d join the Celtics,play well, and rejuvenate his value in the league.