Veteran 76ers forward Georges Niang has taken a swipe at Aussie NBA star Ben Simmons’ drawn-out departure from Philadelphia.
The guard was traded to the Nets in February last year following a long-running saga with the franchise.
Speaking on 97.5 The Fanatic’s The John Kincade Show, Niang said the noise surrounding his former teammate’s trade created an “uneasy feeling” among the team.
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Asked about the difference between the Sixers’ current roster and last year’s team, Niang said he had “a lot to say” about the 2021-22 season.
“Ben Simmons kind of handicapped us at the beginning of last year,” he said.
” … I wasn’t going to say it, but you know what I mean … When you look at building rosters like I’m talking from like a general manager standpoint, I don’t know how much he makes, but it’s a max contract. So, you immediately take that off the books, I’m not playing. Now you have to figure it out where other role players have to step up and replace the passing, dribbling, rebounding, defence.”
One of the show’s hosts then added, “You forgot shooting,” to which Niang replied, “Exactly, that’s my point”.
“So you know, to have to do that and you know, I think people don’t understand, the team aspect is very important,” Niang continued.
“I think (Sixers head coach) Doc Rivers does a good job of like buying into the team, and so when you don’t know who you’re going to have night in and night out, is he coming back? Is he this?”
“I feel like the updates that we were getting about him was like when I turned on my TV, I was listening to Stephen A. Smith, and he said he’s gonna be at practice tomorrow. And I was like, well, there he is and so last year was difficult because you didn’t know who you have. Then, the trade deadline is coming up and everybody’s walking in like, well, who’s being attached to him? That’s going? So it was just like, you had that uneasy feeling.”
Simmons sat out the remainder of the 2021-22 season with a herniated disc. He also cited mental health issues in Philadelphia.
The 26-year-old has struggled offensively during his first season on the court with the Nets, averaging a career-low 7.0 points on 56.7 percent shooting, 6.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
Simmons’ reluctance to shoot or go anywhere near the rim has forced Nets officials to reduce his playing time from 20 minutes to 16 minutes to 13 minutes over the past three games.
The Nets are expected to look at trading Simmons in the off-season.
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