Rookie Ben Simmons makes first road trip to Boston

BOSTON – The Sixers wrapped up their morning shootaround at their hotel gym, and then the real action started. Ben Simmons, on his first road trip with the team since fracturing his foot on the last day of training camp, ran some sprints, took some jumpers, defended one-on-one for a bit and worked up a sweat with the Sixers staff. His lack of conditioning was evident, but it was a great sign for the team that the top overall pick was on the floor getting his shirt wet with perspiration.

"It's good, that's his first trip so it's good for him to feel included with us," said Joel Embiid of Simmons. "It's good to have him and hopefully in the future he gets healthy."

Embiid knows all about the recovery process as he went through it for the first two years of his NBA life. While the recovery for Simmons seems to be moving forward well, Brett Brown reiterated that there is no timetable for the rookie's return. Still, it is a welcomed sight for the coach.

"Because it's starting to get into a New Year and we're seeing him without the boot and slowly integrated with the team, this is a part of it, including him on the road. At times we got we have a physiotherapist and a better plan at home if we're on really long road trips. It's a sign that, you know, not too far away we can see him and start integrating him more and more and more. This is the first small step to doing that.

"His health is good. I think everybody is reluctant to give timelines because there really aren't any right now. We felt like to bring him on the road in the new year and start drip feeding him to life on the road with a new team… He's been completely immersed with the team at home. We've gone through his three-pronged plan with his health, me and him in a classroom and him with his shooting breakdown. We've hit those areas extremely well and we've been diligent with those three areas since September. It's all part of the next step."