For one reason or another, Ben Simmons is back in Philadelphia. According to Adrian Wojnarowski, he’s back in town and has taken a Covid-19 test.

What this means for Simmons’ future with the 76ers is still unclear, considering that he’s spent the entire offseason being adamant that he never wanted to suit up for last season’s Eastern Conference first seed. Just a few days ago, Shams Charania of The Athletic reported that Simmons had emptied his house in Philadelphia.

It may be as simple as Simmons realizing that he didn’t want to continue to get fined by the 76ers, and lose a large portion of his income. 

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The Sixers organization has been adamant that they want him back on the court, but the situation is a little more complicated considering how he’s burned quite a few bridges. To be fair to the Australian point guard, he also got thrown under the bus by Doc Rivers after their loss to the Atlanta Hawks in the playoffs last season. Simmons didn’t help his case with his disappearing act on the court, but it’s not easy playing for a coach who’d called you out in public.

With Simmons back in town, at least the window could be open for him coming back on the court, performing well enough to reinvigorate his trade value, so as to grant him his wish of landing on a new team that might be better suited to his style of play. 

On that end, it may still be hard for the Sixers to find any willing trade partners, considering that he apparently wanted three first round picks and three pick swaps on top of CJ McCollum in a potential trade with the Portland Trail Blazers.

For now, we’ll just have to wait and see how this situation develops.