After years of being persona non grata to Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, Ben Simmons tried to reach a breakthrough with his former teammate before the start of the 2024-25 NBA season.

Per ESPN's Ramona Shelburne, Simmons "reached out" to Embiid and others during the summer in an attempt to "mend fences" between the two sides.

Shelburne did note that any talk of a reunion between Simmons and the 76ers is considered "unlikely," but you can never rule anything out.

The relationship between the two men during their four seasons as teammates was particularly fraught with tension.

After the Sixers traded Simmons to the Brooklyn Nets in February 2022, Embiid told reporters that winning wasn't the top priority for the veteran point guard.

"It's unfortunate winning was not the biggest factor," Embiid said of Simmons. "It's unfortunate that for him having his own team and, I guess, being a star was more his priorities."

Before the start of the 2022-23 season, Simmons told ESPN's Nick Friedell that he and Embiid "never really spoke" when they played together:

"I don't think there was really a relationship there. Like in terms of a friendship? You can try as hard as you want to try to be close to somebody, be their friend, whatever it is, but everyone is different as people, so for me, it's never personal. I don't have any anger or hate towards him. He is who he is and I am who I am. And we've got our personal lives. And work is basketball, so in that moment, my goal is to win and I got to win with Jo. He's a great player, we just didn't get it done."

Embiid did eventually soften his stance toward Simmons, calling him "one that got away" during an appearance on Tyrese Maxey's podcast in December 2023 (h/t David Early of Liberty Ballers).

The 76ers are in free fall right now, to the point where they could probably use a backup point guard with Simmons' skill set to give their offense some juice. Their big three of Embiid, Maxey and Paul George has played a total of six minutes together so far this season.

Philadelphia's 3-13 record is the second-worst in the NBA, ahead of only the Washington Wizards (2-14).

Simmons has been healthy to start this season after a back injury limited him to 13 games during the 2023-24 campaign. He is averaging 5.3 points, 6.5 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game in 13 appearances for the Nets.

Even though Simmons is far from being the All-Star guard he was at his peak with the Sixers, the fact that he's returned to being a useful player given how many injury issues he's had over the past three years is a victory in itself.

It wouldn't be a surprise if the Nets try to explore trade options for Simmons during the season. He is in the final season of his contract with a $40.3 million expiring salary.