Ben Simmons has been sidelined since the All-Star break and Nets coach Jacque Vaughn isn’t sure if he’ll play again this season, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Simmons missed his 10th straight game and his 26th of the season on Sunday, and the team doesn’t have a prognosis for when he might return.
“He’s still managing his back and knee soreness,” Vaughn told reporters before the game in Denver. “He’s back home in Brooklyn. We’ll get a chance to kind of see where he’s at when we get back home after this trip.”
During the break, Simmons had fluid in his left knee drained and took a platelet-rich plasma injection. However, when the team put his knee on a strengthening program, Simmons’ back pain started to flare up. He missed all of last season with a herniated disc in his back and had a microdiscectomy in May.
Lewis notes that Simmons is averaging career lows this season at 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game, along with a 43.9% success rate on free throws. He’s owed more than $78MM over the next two seasons.
There’s more on the Nets:
- Spencer Dinwiddie set a career high in assists with 16 in Sunday’s win over the Nuggets, which is the most by a Brooklyn player this season, Lewis adds. Dinwiddie has excelled since taking over the lead guard role after being acquired from Dallas in the Kyrie Irving trade. “Every night he’s producing for us, he’s learning how to play with this group,” Vaughn said. “He’s learning when to be aggressive, when to get to the rim, how to manage this group.”
- Beating the Nuggets was a significant achievement for a team that rebuilt itself by trading Irving and Kevin Durant last month, Lewis notes in another Post story. Mikal Bridges said he and the other players who arrived in those deals quickly formed a bond. “We were all confident when we all came here and we were put together and just kind of had that mentality, ‘OK, a lot of us got traded so you feel some type of way, and you just want to go out there and hoop,’” Bridges said.
- The Nets no longer appear in danger of falling into the play-in tournament after winning five of their last six games, per Alex Schiffer of The Athletic. Brooklyn has moved on from the drama that defined the Irving-Durant era and has now boasts chemistry as one of its strengths, Schiffer observes.
Fortunes change quickly, but it’s amazing what has happened in the month since the trades. It initially looked like the Nets were crashing and burning, but now it looks like they have solidified while Dallas is trying to figure out how Kyrie and Luka can work together and Phoenix will be without KD for the rest of the regular season.
It wasn’t hard to figure out that Kyrie wasn’t going to fix things in Dallas.
Ben Simmons is definitely one of the biggest busts in NBA history. And the Nets are probably stuck with him, unless they just buy him out and let him walk.
There really aren’t that many albatross contracts out there. Wall, Westbrook, Love are all up.
Maybe a swap wtih CHA for Hayward?
Maybe Simmons and draft haul for Beal?
Any contract can be moved. It’s just a matter of what goes out with it and what comes back
I could see a swap with Charlotte. They do need an athletic Center. The problem is, Simmons is currently a negative asset based on his play. Hayward is at least producing when he’s available. Simmons is neither producing nor available. Does his defense outweigh how much of a liability he is on offense?
Simmons is under contract for two more years, Hayward just one.
It’s phillys fault.
Nah this is all on Ben. Philly fans have made excuses for this guy for years. Tons of support for him. He chose to not work on his game, I mean why do fans need to beg for an NBA player to take a shot?
I think Brooklyn should’ve traded Simmons just before the trade deadline.
They probably would’ve had to add substantial assets, but they got the picks.
Spurs would’ve been the ideal candidate for me: Simmons for McDermott and a young player would’ve been a steal. Even with substantial draft capital and max cash.
Brooklyn would’ve gone under the luxury tax, reset the repeater count and gotten almost 15 million in the luxury tax distribution.
Spurs could’ve had maximum value fo Tre Jones, RFA, but I guess it should’ve been one out of Bates-Diop, Branham, Wesley, Vassel or Sochan instead.
As for the off-season, the bigger contracts that could come in to play next season (in multi-team setups) seem: Hayward, McDermott, Fournier, John Collins, Buddy Hield, Kyle Lowry, Duncan Robinson, DeRozan, Burks, Wiseman, Bagley III, Randle, Tobias Harris, A Gordon, Hardaway Jr., Bertans, Bullock, Kleber, McGee, D Green, Davis, Chris Paul, Nurkic and Olynyk. It will all depend on what draft picks are added obviously.
I’ll admit I was wrong. I thought Simmons would go to Brooklyn and return to form. Couldn’t have been more off.
“Couldn’t have been more off”
So you admit you could bea more on?
Dude give it a break
Feels like this is the last $78M Simmons will make in the NBA.
Not trying to poop on the kid, but unfortunately we’re seeing mental outweigh psychical in the league. Sure, the back may be bad, but his problems started before the body started showing signs of breaking down.
I’m not a fan, but I also hate to see anyone struggle the way he has. Kids not even confident enough to take a layup anymore. Get right both psychically and mentally Ben, and hopefully you prove me wrong.
THE GUY IS NOT INTERESTED IN PLAYING BASKETBALL ANYMORE.
His plan was to secure a max deal and pack it in. The guy has no heart and no work ethic. It’s really sad to see someone with this much talent not give a crap.
He will play these same games next season as well but wait until the following year. He will be up for a new contract. The blame will go on the injuries and ball out that contract year trying to land one more deal.
Sixers will probably sign him as a pr/reclamation project after Harden leaves
Should of offered Bridges to Memphis for those 4 1sts, traded finney-smith. That leaves only j Harris, Claxton and Simmons on contract next season. Traded ben with a 1st for anything.
Ben is 26 yrs old. His confidence does
need fixing. But he’ll be back.
Ben should play the 4 with Nets. That would be a very athletic starting 5. You gotta want it. Bklyn will backup Ben ……
Bridges, Dinwiddie, Ben, Cam, Claxton ……
There is potential here imo.
Dinwiddie as a Net — 13 gms, 35 mins
18.3 pts, 7.6 ast, 4 reb, .42% FG
.30% 3PT, .83% FT
Career wise he’s a good shooter. So it will go up. Means his pts will go up. Like I have said since he was a FA. Dinwiddie is a solid starting PG. Plays both ways and is 6’ 6”.