According to a recent report, Ben Simmons was frustrated with the way that Jimmy Butler’s presence impacted his role on the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2018-19 season.
“According to league sources, Simmons’ frustration at being relegated to off-ball duty during the team’s 2019 second-round loss to the [Toronto] Raptors contributed to the front office’s decision to not re-sign Jimmy Butler,” wrote Yaron Weitzman of Fox Sports. “Brown had handed Butler the keys to the offense, and management was worried how Simmons would handle having Butler around and monopolizing crunch-time playmaking duties for multiple years.”
Butler ultimately left the 76ers after that season for the Miami Heat.
The 2018-19 season was just the second full campaign of Simmons’ career. He was named an All-Star and averaged 16.9 points, 8.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game.
Butler, on the other hand, averaged 18.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.0 assists per contest over 55 games with Philadelphia.
The 76ers were eliminated that season in the second round of the NBA playoffs by the Raptors.
Simmons has made headlines recently after his very poor 2021 postseason. He struggled miserably from the charity stripe and averaged just 9.9 points per game in Philadelphia’s second-round series loss to the Atlanta Hawks.