The relationship between Ben Simmons, the franchise player of the Philadelphia 76ers, and Doc Rivers, the head coach of the team, "suffered significant damage that some believe is irreparable," according to Kyle Neubeck of the Philly Voice.

Simmons became the object of public criticism after a disappointing performance last season, especially in the playoffs. Having averaged 11.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.8 assists in the post season, he was one of the reasons that the 76ers were knocked out of the Eastern Conference semifinals by the Atlanta Hawks.

It's not easy to defend a guy who made over $30 million but only had 9.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 8.6 assists per game in a losing series. Things looked even worse when the guy missed 30 of his 45 free throw attempts and became the target of "hack-a-Ben strategy" – defenders intentionally fouling on Simmons to get him to shoot free throws, in order to interrupt the 76ers' offense and gain ball possession.

"I am positive in Ben. I'm very bullish on Ben still. But there's work. There's work. There is. And Ben will be willing to do it. Sometimes you have to go through stuff to see it, and be honest with it," said Rivers.

Having played four seasons for the 76ers – he missed the whole 2016-17 season because of injury – Simmons showed no sign of improving his shooting and, worse, no intention of trying to improve it.

That's why it's fair for the team to start listening to trade offers for Simmons after the 2020-21 season. They need more players who can shoot 3-pointers and fewer players who will hinder Joel Embiid's way under the rim.

However, the 76ers have been asking for too much. The Golden State Warriors were reportedly interested in landing Simmons, but they decided to walk away after the 76ers asked for Andrew Wiggins, James Wiseman, Jonathan Kuminga, Moses Moody and two future first-round picks.

ESPN's Zach Lowe said the availability of Summons is related to that of Damian Lillard and Bradley Beal and the 76ers "view Simmons as their path to Lillard."

Of course, there is the always the option of keeping Simmons who still has four years left of his contract worth $146 million. Besides, he still has top athleticism, court vision, dibble and defense at the age of 25 years old.

On Simmons' side, his market value hit bottom after the lost series against the Hawks. He will surely rebound in the 2021-22 regular season, but he needs to do more than that to restore the faith in him, both from the 76ers and other teams, whether he wants to stay at the Wells Fargo Center or depart for somewhere else.