How Ben Simmons impasse could impact OKC Thunder future

It’s not uncommon for superstars to force their way out of unhappy situations to form super teams or relocate to a more appealing location. Unfortunately, when these trade demands occur those star players aren’t putting the OKC Thunder or other small markets on their shortlist.

Even during the Thunder U era when the team had Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, and James Harden, there wasn’t the typical onslaught of ring-seeking vets hitting Oklahoma City to bolster the squad. It was an early hint of the vast advantages large markets typically hold over their small market counterparts.

Enter Charles Barkley who perhaps should be renamed the small market warrior. During an appearance on the Mike Missanelli Show on 97.5 The Fanatic (a Philadelphia radio  station ) Barkley said the quiet part out loud blasting Klutch Sports Group specifically:

“They just bully the league… A team or the league got to stand up to (Klutch Sports), wait a minute. I paid your guy, you can’t bully me to trade him and (force) me taking some trash back.”

This specific comment is in reference to Klutch Sports trying to strong-arm the 76ers into trading Ben Simmons. It wasn’t the first time the former NBA superstar went in hard on Simmons. He joined his fellow TNT co-star Shaquiille ONeal  on the latters “Shaq’s Big Podcast”, as the New York Post detailed.

"Barkley said he was disappointed in Simmons taking a $200 million contract from the Sixers, while reportedly requesting a trade.“They’re not saying, ‘Come over and cut my grass,’ they’re saying ‘Ben, we need you to learn how to shoot the basketball,” said Barkley, who also ripped the 76ers point guard last week."

OKC Thunder: New player empowerment trend is detrimental to small markets

If Magic and Bird made the NBA popular and the Michael Jordan era epitomized the merge of the athlete with branding then LeBron James‘ era is synonymous with player empowerment. James championed the right of superstars to form superteams and to have greater career control.

Some might think – wait – this goes on all the time, plenty of stars demand trades and it’s a valid argument. Yet, the issue isn’t so much the trade demand but the ever-changing circumstances in this current era of the NBA.

Klutch Sports Group and owner Rich Paul are spotlighted in this particular outburst from Sir Charles because they represent Simmons. The list of players Kluch Sports Group represents is impressive. Agent Rich Paul’s most famous client is long-time friend LeBron James. OKC Thunder forward Darius Bazley is also a client as are some of the biggest names in the sport.

Klutch is also the agent to Anthony Davis who forced his way out of New Orleans to join the Lakers.  ESPN offers insight into the current stalemate of Simmons and the 76ers with his rookie max extension ($177.2 M) at the center of the impasse.

"When Simmons signed his five-year $177.2 million rookie max extension in 2019, he elected to be paid 25% of his salary for every season on July 1, 25% on Oct. 1 and the remaining 50% in 12 installments starting on Nov. 15. The unknown is if the 76ers would withhold $8,250,984 on Oct. 1 if he doesn’t show up for training camp."

That the LSU star has four years remaining on his deal speaks to how far stars are pushing the envelope now. Despite the 76ers having him locked down Simmons is threatening to not report to training camp.

The franchise will face a major decision on October 1st when over an $8 million dollar payment will be due to the star. Daryl Morey could elect to suspend his star or levy fines or the league could step in. Without a doubt, the one thing Philly can’t afford to do is be forced to accommodate a quick trade without a fair return nor should they.

Simmons has been clear of his desire to go to California (ideally to the Lakers) who don’t have the talent or draft picks to accommodate a trade. Teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves or our own OKC Thunder do have the assets and/or draft pick capital to complete a deal.

So yes, the franchise has the say on where the player goes but there’s no use in the Thunder, for example, giving up a horde of draft picks to bring Simmons to OKC. He’s just going to demand a trade or refuse to report here too. It’s not worth the drama. Don’t believe me, look at Kawhi Leonard – –  the Raptors finished second in the NBA the year after they won the title, and yet he exited immediately and didn’t even do it via a sign and trade leaving the Raptors hanging for days into free agency.

It’s commonplace for superstars to demand trades I think the current issue and dynamics of the league is now they’re also dictating the destination. Case in point — Anthony Davis pushed the Pelicans to trade him to the Lakers and the Rockets – James Harden’s battle and nighttime antics were front and center at the start of last season as he forced his way out to join the Brooklyn Nets.

Davis had a year let on his deal while Harden was contracted through the 2022-23 season. In both cases, the franchise could’ve forced them to stay the course but eventually acquiesced to their demands including the specific locations they wanted to land.

Paul George pulled the same stunt with the Thunder but Sam Presti jumped on the situation quickly so it didn’t become a dog and pony show. Jimmy Butler was another player who demanded a trade at the time while with the Timberwolves and was sent to the 76ers.

Notice a common denominator here? All the landing spots were in large markets: LA, New York, and Philly plus each of the players had at least a year remaining on their deals.

While this specific situation doesn’t involve the Thunder directly what ultimately occurs could set an untenable precedent. If the 76ers concede to Simmons it would definitely impact OKC and their counterparts.

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Small markets that don’t draw superstar free agents rely on the draft to build their talent base. Sam Presti is in the process of rebuilding the club and will utilize copious draft picks over the next six seasons in this effort.

The advantage of building the roster through the draft is the franchise holds the rights to the player and more importantly the ‘controllable years’ the club owns the rights to that player. Cornerstone Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just inked his five-year rookie extension ($172.6M)  that will start after the end of next season and run through 2026-27.

To put this in perspective and tie back into the Simmons situation, imagine if two years from now SGA emulates Simmons telling OKC yeah, I’m not digging losing trade me to Toronto or New York. Take it a step further and what if every exceptional young talent the OKC Thunder draft follows suit?

It’s one thing for a player who has spent copious years with a club to run out of patience. Kevin Garnett stayed loyal for 12 seasons with the Wolves before demanding a trade. LeBron and AD stayed in their drafting market for seven seasons before they left, James via free agency and Davis forcing his way out of New Orleans to LA.

But if more young players copy Simmons by signing maximum five-year extensions and a year later demand to be traded it would paralyze small market teams. While Adam Silver has been open to player empowerment this new dynamic is not something the league can afford to become the next emerging trend.

So while Simmons/Rich Paul continue to play this game of who’ll flinch first with the 76ers, the OKC Thunder brain trust will undoubtedly be actively invested in what happens next. Player empowerment is a positive part of the sport but not if it handicaps small markets into a position where being competitive is unattainable.