Is Ben Simmons hurting his trade value or smartly pulling a Jimmy Butler? We debate it

Is this the way to get traded?

The Ben Simmons drama in Philly came to a head on Tuesday, and the NBA world is going nuts.

Simmons, per USA TODAY Sports, was booted from practice “for not being engaged,” and the team announced he was suspended for one game due to detrimental conduct. It’s the latest in a series of dramatic moments as Simmons is trying to force his way out of Philly.

Given what we’ve seen out of Simmons in practice this week, it seems obvious that he’s pulling a Jimmy Butler — when the now-Heat star was with the Minnesota Timberwolves in 2018, he arrived at practice and laid into management and fellow players during a scrimmage. He then spoke about it with a fiery interview afterwards. A month later, the Wolves sent him to the Sixers.

It was brilliantly parodied on Bleacher Report’s Game of Zones and it’s been influential across the NBA. In fact, it set the framework for how James Harden would leave the Houston Rockets earlier this year. The strategy is bold: Simply behave so poorly that the team has no choice but to trade you.

So: Is this the right move? Our Bryan Kalbrosky and Charles Curtis debate it.