Things might have taken a turn for the worse in the Ben Simmons saga. Earlier today, Jason Dumas reported that Ben Simmons has cut off communication with almost everyone within the 76ers organization. With Ben not talking, all talk has had to go through his agent, Rich Paul. Dumas went on to say that Ben is open to going to Golden State, but he has little leverage in the situation.

This report comes off the heels of Adrian Wojnarowski saying Ben was in step with a trade last week. Daryl Morey and the 76ers have been shopping Simmons across the league for the last several weeks but have attached a high price tag to him. Several teams have shown interest in Ben, including Golden State, Toronto, and numerous others.

A few weeks ao Jake Fischer reported that Ben wasn’t talking to anyone within the organization. But Kyle Neubeck refuted that, saying they spoke as recently as Ben’s birthday last month. So it’s possible that Philly was saying that as part of damage control or the cut-off communications just occurred.

A trade involving Ben will likely happen sometime over the next month before the start of NBA training camp. Daryl Morey has teased the idea of running it back next season, but it seems as though that bridge has been burned. The question now is not if they will trade Ben Simmons, but when.

Update:

We have some more information regarding the situation from Jason Dumas. Dumas has said Ben is open to joining any of the California teams, but not Toronto or Portland. Also, Simmons has rejected Joel Embiid’s phone calls this offseason. If this is true, it is one of the most cowardly things to come out of Philly sports. It’s very clear Ben Simmons is complacent with going to a California team to party.

Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports