We appreciate Charles Barkley because he tells it how it is. Sometimes that gets him in trouble, like when Turner Broadcasting asked him to stop making comments about the women of San Antonio. 

But in this case he’s not talking about “big ‘ole women,” he’s talking about Ben Simmons, and TMZ caught up with Sir Charles and got his thoughts on the matter at hand (about 1:00 in) –

Charles:

“He’s never gonna play another game in Philly. The fans would not forgive him. They gotta make a trade. You gotta move on from a bad relationship. To not use him – and Joel Embiid is playing great this year, so they’re wasting his talents. They’ve got to make a decision…. I know those fans. I thought my name was “Charles Barkley son of a bitch” for a long time. 

Of course Charles is right. The idea of convincing Simmons to come back and play in Philly was always bullshit. It’s just a question of trading him now or waiting until the summer. If you trade him now, you might not get the best return, but if you wait until the summer, you’re essentially forfeiting a prime Joel Embiid year. That might be the best course of action at the end of the day, but man is that a hard sell to Sixers fans.