Embiid: Simmons welcome to rejoin 76ers but 'you got to want to be there'

Joel Embiid says he and his teammates would welcome Ben Simmons back to the Philadelphia 76ers if the discontent point forward isn't relocated by the Feb. 10 trade deadline - with one caveat.

"Anybody is welcome to play, and if you want to be part of us, I am sure everybody is gonna be fine with it," Embiid told reporters after Tuesday's 114-109 loss to the Phoenix Suns, according to ESPN's Tim Bontemps. "But you got to show up. You got to want to be there."

Despite Simmons' absence, the 76ers remain in the hunt for homecourt advantage come playoff time. Even after Tuesday's loss, Philadelphia's 32-22 record puts the team just 2.5 games back from the East-leading Miami Heat.

Still, according to Embiid - who's enjoying a second straight MVP-caliber season - the 76ers must continue to push each other if they want to reach their ultimate goal of capturing the team's first championship since 1983.

"I get paid to bring results and win games," Embiid said. "I don't get paid to, you know, babysit Tyrese (Maxey). I get paid to challenge him to try to help me win games. I get paid to, you know, do the same thing to Tobias (Harris) and all the other guys and they respond to it, every single time.

"And just like the same way they challenge me, they know that it is never personal. I always go at them, and they always come back at me, because we all got the same goal: we want to win."