Ben Simmons drops his $27 million bomb on Philadelphia

Ben Simmons’ divorce from the 76ers is far from over with the Aussie reportedly making the legal move he’d previously threatened.

Ben Simmons is back in the trenches. Photo by Adam Hunger/Getty Images.

The drama between Ben Simmons and the 76ers has at least one more chapter.

Simmons filed a grievance to try and force Philadelphia to pay back the nearly $20 million ($A27m) in salary withheld from him this season, per ESPN.

It will now go to an arbitration process, with the NBPA supporting Simmons, The New York Post reports.

The Nets acquired Simmons in a blockbuster move for James Harden at the trade deadline, though he has yet to appear in a game for Brooklyn.

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He recently resumed light on-court workouts, reportedly with hopes he could ramp up for the postseason.

The Post’s Brian Lewis reported Friday that Simmons is still several steps from being cleared to practice.

Though the collective bargaining agreement states that a grievance must be initiated within 30 days from when the matter in question occurred or within the same window from the date facts of the matter became known, Simmons’ agent Rich Paul reportedly believes the trade didn’t trigger that window, since the issue had been ongoing all season.

Simmons sat out training camp and the regular season while with the 76ers, citing mental health issues.

Ben Simmons is yet to suit up for the Nets. (Photo by Eric Espada/Getty Images)

That followed a poor performance in the playoffs last summer, in which Simmons was blamed for a loss to the Hawks and Sixers coach Doc Rivers said he didn’t know whether Simmons could be the point guard on a championship team. Sixers team doctors, according to ESPN assigned to Simmons to diagnose and affirm his mental health condition.

“The guys were just over it,” Rivers recently told Sports Illustrated of the situation.

“We were winning games and, every town we went to, we were talking about Ben. I don’t know if we could have gotten through the second half of the season with that hanging over our heads. I was praying something happened.”

Simmons was repeatedly fined for sitting out.

“At some point, I started to feel bad for him,” Joel Embiid told Sports Illustrated.

The Nets could use a healthy Simmons when the playoffs start in just over a week, though that doesn’t seem likely at this point. Simmons has yet to be cleared to play one-on-one. Brooklyn is likely to end up in the play-in tournament, with a 40-37 record going into Saturday’s game in Atlanta.

“He hasn’t really practised with us. He really just passes us the ball,” Bruce Brown told reporters.

“I don’t think he’s done much but maybe when I’m not here he’s doing stuff.”

— This story originally appeared on nypost.com and has been republished with permission