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Ben Simmons Eager To “Come Back And Dominate”

August 29th, 2023 at 4:47pm CST by Luke Adams

Nets guard Ben Simmons is feeling as good as he has in years and is “excited” about the upcoming season, he tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape. A three-time All-Star from 2019-21, Simmons has missed 122 games over the last two seasons due to mental and physical issues and didn’t look his old self when he was active, but he says he “definitely” thinks he’ll be ready for opening night.

“For me to come back and dominate people will be great,” Simmons said. “I don’t intend to come back the same player I was last [season], because that’s not even close to where I am. I get excited because I’m like, ‘Damn, I would [expletive] on the player I was last year.'”

Simmons, who was traded from Philadelphia to Brooklyn during the 2021/22 season following a lengthy holdout, was unable to play for the Nets that year due to back problems. He went under the knife in May 2022 to address a herniated disc and wasn’t fully recovered from the procedure when last season began — he played in 42 games, but was shut down in the second half and didn’t see the court after February 15.

Speaking to Spears, Simmons admitted that he was playing last season when he probably shouldn’t have been and suggested he was trying to “please people” after being sidelined for all of 2021/22. The 27-year-old managed to avoid a second back surgery and underwent an extended rehab process this offseason, which he’s feeling positive about. He said he has been doing 2-on-2 work for the last couple weeks and is progressing well.

“I don’t think people realize how bad it was in terms of physically how I was feeling and what I was able to do on the floor,” he said of his back issues. “… I remember my brother came to watch me work out one day, and he was just like, ‘You’re not OK, are you?’ I was looking at him, I was like, ‘Obviously not. This is not how I should be moving.’ But I’m happy I’m in this place now. I’m grateful I didn’t do anything to have another surgery.

“… Being able to sit down now and not have to lean or slouch one way, it’s kind of crazy for me. But I feel I’m at 100% now. Right now, I’m just building back to where I’m playing. I haven’t played in a while. Just taking hits and getting my body used to that.”

Here are a few other items of interest from Spears’ interview with Simmons:

Simmons says he “100%” wants to be part of Australia’s roster for the 2024 Olympics, assuming the Boomers qualify. “There hasn’t really been a time where I’ve been prepared and ready physically,” he said. “But next year, my goal is to be on the Olympic team.”
Asked if he felt any desire to ask out of Brooklyn last season like Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving did, Simmons dismissed the idea: “I love Brooklyn. I don’t have an issue with Brooklyn. For me, I want to get healthy. The only thing I could do was get healthy. I couldn’t complain about anything. I’m in a great city, a great organization, great owners, great coach, great GM. It’s all good people around, and they want to win and do it the right way. Also, I don’t have specific teams I want to go to. This is a job. I’m not going to ask to be put somewhere specific, I just want to play.”
Simmons admitted that his relationship with head coach Jacque Vaughn got off to a rocky start when he was first traded to Brooklyn, but he feels as if he’s gotten closer to Vaughn, who has visited him multiple times in Miami this offseason. “We’re in a great place,” Simmons said. “I speak to him every other day. And I’m excited because I think Coach is great. Great as a person, great coach. That’s the main thing, just being a good human. He can relate to a lot of players, he’s played the game.”
Asked about his 2023/24 position, Simmons indicated that he doesn’t expect to be used as a power forward or center. “Point guard. That’s who I am,” he told Spears, adding that he has talked to Vaughn about his role. “As much as people say, ‘Fix this, fix that.’ No, I’m a point guard. When I was playing at that [high] level, nobody was really saying anything to me.”
Despite the way his tenure with the Sixers ended, Simmons will “always have love for Philly” and even left the door open for an eventual return to the city. “People always ask me like, ‘If you were to get traded again where you want it to be?'” he said. “I always say, ‘Just Philly. Philly is a second home to me.’ And in time, you learn and grow as people. I don’t really have anything bad to say about Philly. It was a crazy situation at the end, but it is what it is.”

Community Shootaround: Ben Simmons

August 23rd, 2023 at 11:00pm CST by Arthur Hill

Throughout the offseason, there have been indications that Nets guard Ben Simmons has overcome the physical issues that cut short his 2022/23 season and that he’ll be healthy and ready to go when training camp opens.

Brooklyn general manager Sean Marks started the speculation at his end-of-season press conference after the team was eliminated from the playoffs in April. Marks told reporters that Simmons didn’t appear to need another back surgery and would likely be fully healthy by the start of September.

Simmons got some social media buzz in June when he posted workout photos on Instagram, and a month later, Marc J. Spears of Andscape shared a quote from a source who said Simmons is “as healthy as he has ever been since his last year in Philly.” A day later, Ian Begley of SNY.tv reported that Simmons had fully completed rehab following a back nerve impingement that sidelined him for the last six weeks of the season.

In early August, teammate Cameron Johnson said in an interview that he expects Simmons to be “if not full form, pretty close to it.” He added that he had recently talked to Simmons and believes he’s in “a good place.”

A healthy Simmons would obviously make a huge difference for the Nets, who are trying to establish a new identity after trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in February. Johnson, Mikal Bridges and Nic Claxton are the foundation of the team, and Simmons could turn them into a legitimate contender if he becomes anything close to the All-Star that he was in Philadelphia.

Of course, there are caveats. Simmons decided not to join the Australian team for the World Cup after raising the possibility in May. He came to an agreement with the national team that he would skip the tournament while continuing to prepare for the upcoming NBA season while leaving open the possibility of playing in the 2024 Olympics.

Anyone who has followed the Nets since Simmons was acquired in February of 2022 knows there have been other encouraging health reports, which are eventually followed by setbacks.

Simmons is owed $37.9MM for the upcoming season and $40.3MM for 2024/25. The contract is considered among the worst in the league, but only because Simmons hasn’t been able to play. It becomes much more reasonable — and possibly even tradable — if he gets to be healthy and productive again.

We want to know what you think. Will Simmons be able to get back to normal after two straight seasons marred by injuries and off-court issues, or is the All-Star version of Simmons gone forever? Please leave your comments in the space below.

Atlantic Notes: Dinwiddie, Brown, Tatum

August 13th, 2023 at 3:17pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

The Nets have a decision to make on their extension-eligible starting point guard Spencer Dinwiddie, notes Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Injury-prone Ben Simmons has technically also become extension-eligible, but given how difficult it has been to find minutes for Simmons on the roster, Lewis doubts Brooklyn would be interested in extending the former All-Star.

Dinwiddie is currently earning $20.4MM in the last season of a lucrative three-year deal. Lewis notes that the 30-year-old’s veteran leadership and play-making remains valuable, and speculates that it might behoove team GM Sean Marks to re-sign him to a deal comparable to his current three-year, $54MM contract before he becomes an unrestricted free agent next summer.

There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:

Celtics All-NBA forward Jayson Tatum reflected on his All-NBA teammate Jaylen Brown‘s massive new five-year contract extension that could be worth as much as $304MM, per Gary Washburn of The Boston Globe. “Much deserved, it was a no-brainer,” Tatum told Washburn. “So I’m happy for him and his family. It’s life changing. It’s a big deal. I’m happy we’re going to have him for however much longer we’ve got him for. I’m happy about that.” Brown averaged 26.6 PPG, 6.9 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 1.1 SPG across 67 contests with Boston last season. He and Tatum have been the centerpieces of a team that has appeared in four Conference Finals across its last six seasons, and one NBA Finals.
Washburn notes that, in the 2024 offseason, Tatum himself will become eligible for his own five-year super-max contract extension that would make him even higher paid than Brown. Washburn considers it inevitable that the Celtics will tender him an extension offer, given his standing on the team and in the league, but it’s not at the front of Tatum’s mind. “Nah, I don’t think about nothing of that,” Tatum said. “It’s one day at a time.”
In case you missed it, Sixers point guard James Harden reportedly does not intend to suit up for Philadelphia as he awaits a trade. The former All-Star opted into the final year of his current deal with the team in an effort to force a trade, rather than signing with another club in free agency this summer.

Australian Coach “Not Recruiting” Ben Simmons

August 12th, 2023 at 6:29pm CST by Arthur Hill

Australian national team coach Brian Goorjian would like to have Ben Simmons on his roster for the 2024 Olympics, but he told Olgun Uluc of ESPN that the Boomers will be fine whether the Nets guard plays or not.

“This is very important,” Goorjian said. “In my dealings with Ben, it’s always been: I’m not recruiting you. It’s important for the country (to know), we’re not going, ‘Please, Ben, please, we don’t have anything if you don’t play’. We’re not like that at all.”

Basketball Australia announced in late June that Simmons would miss this year’s World Cup so he could continue to rehabilitate his back in preparation for the upcoming NBA season. Recent reports indicate that Simmons is fully healthy and will be ready when Brooklyn’s training camp begins.

Uluc points out that Simmons hasn’t played for Australia since a FIBA Oceania Championship game in 2013. He wasn’t selected for the Boomers’ World Cup squad in 2014, which Goorjian believes led to resentment. Simmons committed to taking part in the 2016 Olympics, the 2019 World Cup and the 2020 Olympics, but he never actually joined the team.

Australia has become a perennial contender in international competitions and it’s not as easy to earn a roster spot as it used to be, even for a former star like Simmons, Uluc adds. His expected role as primary ball-handler now belongs to Josh Giddey, although Simmons is versatile enough to help the Boomers in other ways if he’s healthy and fully committed to playing.

That’s a decision Simmons will have to make by next summer, and Goorjian is adamant that the Australians will be competitive with or without him.

“You have a game plan, and it’s like plan B,” Goorjian said. “You’ve got this sitting in here, and you just go, ‘I’d love to pull this out of my pocket; bring this out for a World Cup or bring this out for an Olympics.’ In the same breath, what is phenomenal about Australian basketball right now is, if he doesn’t play, and if it doesn’t work, we’re still on the same path. We’re still going for that gold, and we have the ability, long term, to get that done.”

Cameron Johnson Expects Ben Simmons To Be Close To “Full Form”

August 5th, 2023 at 9:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

Cameron Johnson is optimistic that Ben Simmons will look more like the player he used to be when the Nets open training camp in two months, writes Ethan Sears of The New York Post. Johnson said he was encouraged after talking to Simmons, who is working out this summer in Miami.

“He sounds good,” Johnson said. “He’s in a good place. He says it’s progressing and he’s excited for the season. Looking forward to seeing what he brings to the table this year. I expect him to be, if not full form, pretty close to it.”

Simmons only played 42 games in his first full season with Brooklyn and wasn’t on the court at all after February 15. When he did play, Simmons was dealing with back and knee issues that limited his effectiveness, as the three-time All-Star averaged just 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists. He also appeared reluctant to shoot, Sears observes, with the confidence problems that plagued him in Philadelphia continuing to affect his game.

Simmons was the centerpiece of the return Brooklyn got when it traded James Harden to the Sixers in February of 2022. Injuries kept him from playing for the remainder of that season, and he hasn’t really been effective since 2020/21.

Sears points out that Simmons is the only current Net ever to appear in the All-Star Game, and at age 27 he has the potential to become a veteran leader for an otherwise young team. He’s under contract for $37.9MM this season and $40.3MM in 2024/25, so it’s vital for Brooklyn that his production begins to approach his salary.

“He’s very important to us,” Johnson said. “There’s things that he does on the court that not many players in the NBA can do. And he adds something that is very valuable to myself, Spencer (Dinwiddie), Mikal (Bridges) and being able to set us up and get us shots and play in flow like that. With him on the court, it’ll make us a better team.”

When Simmons reports for training camp, he’ll have to get used to a new group of teammates. Sears notes that he only played three games after Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were traded in February. The Nets are now built around Johnson and Bridges, who were acquired from Phoenix in the Durant deal, along with Dinwiddie and fifth-year center Nic Claxton.

Simmons has the talent to bring that group together, but only if he can overcome the physical and psychological issues that have derailed his career.

“We’ll have to learn how to play in a manner that suits him on the court,” Johnson said. “He allows for me, Mikal, Spence to run around and find opportunities. Always head up, always looking. We’ll have to fully develop how that scheme will look. “Defensively, we’ll have a unique advantage of having Ben and (Claxton), who can guard everybody on the court. Definitely a lot of positives there.”

New York Notes: Randle, Knicks, Long Island Nets, Simmons

July 27th, 2023 at 1:40pm CST by Alex Kirschenbaum

Knicks All-Star power forward Julius Randle seems to be on the mend following his offseason arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle last month. As Belle Fraser of The New York Post writes, Randle shared a new workout video to his personal Instagram account.

Randle sat out the final five contests of the 2022/23 regular season after spraining his ankle in a late March bout with the Heat. He then re-aggravated the ailment during the closeout bout of New York’s five-game first-round series win over the Cavaliers.

In the regular season, the 28-year-old averaged 25.1 PPG, 10.0 RPG, and 4.1 APG during his second All-NBA season with the Knicks, who finished with a 47-35 record and the No. 5 seed in the East last year. His numbers regressed mightily in the playoffs, in part due to the ankle ailment. Randle averaged 16.6 PPG on 37.4% shooting from the field, along with 8.3 RPG, and 3.6 APG.

There’s more out of New York:

The Knicks have shored up their wing depth this offseason, but will still face an uphill battle in a stacked Eastern Conference. Zach Braziller of The New York Post (subscriber link) predicts how the Knicks will fare this season, speculating that five Eastern teams will finish ahead of them.
The Nets’ NBAGL team, the Long Island Nets, have traded the returning player rights for swingman Alondes Williams to the Heat’s NBA G League affiliate, the Sioux Falls Skyforce, in exchange for the returning player rights of shooting guard D.J. Stewart to the Nets, the Skyforce announced in a press release.
Oft-injured Nets guard Ben Simmons is now completely healthy after rehabbing from the back nerve impingement that caused him to miss the last six weeks of the 2022/23 regular season, sources inform Ian Begley of SNY.tv. The 27-year-old anticipates that he will be able to fully partake in Brooklyn’s training camp in September.

Atlantic Notes: Reed, Simmons, Thibodeau, Keels

July 26th, 2023 at 8:39pm CST by Arthur Hill

Paul Reed said that he didn’t expect the Sixers to match the offer sheet he received from the Jazz earlier this month, per Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire.

The three-year, $23MM contract was designed to be more onerous for Philadelphia than Utah because it puts the Sixers in danger of exceeding the luxury tax threshold and the final two years become guaranteed if Reed’s team advances past the first round of the playoffs. President of basketball operations Daryl Morey decided the gamble was worth it to hold onto a promising young talent like Reed.

“I didn’t know what was gonna happen to be honest,” Reed said. “I was a restricted free agent, so they had an opportunity to match. Then I seen they signed Trez (Montrezl Harrell) and (Mohamed) Bamba, my agent was like, ‘It’s probably not likely that they match,’ but when they matched, I was real surprised.”

As Reed noted, Philadelphia now has a logjam of centers behind Joel Embiid. But new head coach Nick Nurse has a expanded role in mind for Reed that will go beyond playing in the post.

“He talked about molding me into a Pascal Siakam-type player,” Reed said. “Somebody who can kind of do it all. Shoot the ball, drive, pass, but right now, it’s all about focusing on my shot mechanics. That’s the start.”

There’s more from the Atlantic Division:

Nets guard Ben Simmons is “as healthy as he has ever been since his last year in Philly,” a source tells Marc J. Spears of Andscape (video link from NBA Today). The source also said Simmons is in the “final stage” of preparing for the upcoming season and has been able to pass every health benchmark the team has set so far. Simmons has been dealing with back and knee problems over the past two years, along with mental health issues, and only played 42 games last season.
Assuming the Knicks have another successful season, owner James Dolan will likely talk with coach Tom Thibodeau, team president Leon Rose and other members of the front office about contract extensions, according to Ian Begley of SNY.tv (video link). Thibodeau is heading into the fourth season of his five-year contract, and much of the management team is on the same timeline, Begley adds.
The Knicks will retain the G League rights to Trevor Keels, who was waived on Wednesday, Begley tweets. Keels had a two-way contract last season and appeared in three NBA games.

Ben Simmons Receives Service Credit For 2021/22 Season

July 19th, 2023 at 10:16pm CST by Rory Maher

Swingman Ben Simmons has been granted a year of service for 2021/22 despite missing the entire season, league sources tell Zach Lowe of ESPN.

According to Lowe, Simmons’ service-time update came in the form of a side letter when the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was released in late June. The issue was a contentious one, with executives from several NBA teams arguing Simmons should not have received credit for ’21/22 due to his holdout.

Years of service impact how much money players can make, whether it’s the veteran’s minimum or a maximum-salary contract, among other benefits. Simmons now officially has seven years of service under his belt. He has technically only played in five of those seven seasons, with Simmons missing the entire ’16/17 season — which would have been his rookie campagin — due to a foot injury.

Simmons’ service situation for ’21/22 is intended to be viewed in isolation and is not meant to be a precedent for future cases, sources tell ESPN.

As Lowe writes, Simmons requested a trade in the 2021 offseason and refused to play for the Sixers in ’21/22. The three-time All-Star cited mental health issues for not fully engaging with the team.

Simmons was traded to the Nets at the 2022 deadline in the deal that sent James Harden to Philadelphia. He didn’t play for Brooklyn in ’21/22 either due to knee and back problems, undergoing a microdiscectomy surgery in April 2022 to repair a herniated disc.

The Sixers withheld Simmons’ salary in ’21/22, Lowe notes, citing a breach of contract. Simmons and the NBPA filed a grievance to recoup the withheld money, reaching a settlement with the Sixers last summer that paid Simmons a portion of the $20MM that was withheld.

Harden recently requested his own trade out of Philadelphia, but his situation is different because he’s in the final year of his contract. A clause in the CBA says if Harden were to refuse to report to training camp or play in games for more than 30 days, the Sixers could potentially block him from entering free agency and signing with any other team, including international clubs, sources confirmed to Lowe.

That said, a report earlier today indicated that Harden intended to show up to training camp if he was still on the roster at that time, so that could be a moot point. Still, it illustrates that there are potentially severe penalties to holding out in certain scenarios.

Simmons was limited to 42 games with the Nets last season, as knee and back issues continued to hamper the Australian. Brooklyn is hopeful he’ll be healthy by September before training camp begins.

Fischer’s Latest: Blazers, Simmons, Payne, McConnell, Fournier

July 12th, 2023 at 7:14pm CST by Rory Maher

Trail Blazers general manager Joe Cronin didn’t appear to be posturing when he recently commented on the status of Damian Lillard‘s trade request, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, who writes that there wasn’t any buzz at Summer League about progress between the Blazers and the Heat on a possible deal.

Based on the way Portland has patiently handled the situation thus far, Fischer believes the process could indeed take months. The Blazers are said to be looking for something in the neighborhood of a Kevin Durant-type return in exchange for Lillard — a couple of very good young players and four first-round picks.

Here’s more from Fischer:

The Nets have been linked as a possible third team trade partner in talks between Portland and Miami (with rumored interest in Tyler Herro), but league sources tell Fischer that Brooklyn hasn’t had any serious talks involving Ben Simmons on that front. As Fischer points out, the Nets are surely aware that Simmons’ value has cratered, but they also seem “genuinely intrigued” by pairing a healthy Simmons with a much different roster in 2023/24 after trading Durant and Kyrie Irving.
The Suns have been involved in trade talks regarding point guard Cameron Payne, with Phoenix targeting Pacers point guard T.J. McConnell, perhaps in a multi-team deal, Fischer reports. Payne recently had his expiring $6.5MM contract fully guaranteed, while McConnell will earn $18MM over the next two seasons, $13.7MM of which is guaranteed.
The Knicks continue to actively explore Evan Fournier trades and are open to multi-team scenarios, sources tell Fischer. Fournier was pulled from New York’s rotation fairly early last season, only appearing in 27 contests and struggling with his shot in limited minutes. The 30-year-old will earn $18.86MM in 2023/24 and has a $19MM team option for ’24/25 that is highly likely to be declined.

Nets Notes: Smith Jr., Core Group, Wilson, Simmons, Johnson

July 10th, 2023 at 9:00pm CST by Dana Gauruder

After signing a one-year, veteran’s minimum deal with the Nets, Dennis Smith Jr. is prepared to accept whatever role he’s given, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. The 2017 lottery pick will be playing for his sixth NBA team next season.

“I’m going to have to come in and earn my minutes like everybody else. That’s on par with my brand. Ain’t nothing been given to me. So I’m looking forward to that,” he said.

We have more on the Nets:

The roster moves the Nets have made this offseason better define their core players, Lewis relays. Coach Jacque Vaughn has several players entering their prime years that he’s counting on. “Cam Johnson, Mikal Bridges, Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton, those are the 24-to-27-year-old range for us who are going to be able to grow together, define the culture,” Vaughn told NBA TV. “It’s a relentless culture is what we want: To be relentless teammates, be relentless competitors. So they’ll get a chance to define the culture going forward.”
Jalen Wilson, who signed a two-way contract last week, could develop into a 3-and-D factor. Wilson helped lead Kansas to a national title in 2022. “Jalen is just physical,” Nets Summer League coach Trevor Hendry told Lewis. “His ability to guard different positions and make catch-and-shoot 3s is something that he’s done at a pretty high clip.”
Ben Simmons won’t play for Australia in the FIBA World Cup this summer as he continues his lengthy rehab. Simmons hasn’t been scrimmaging but GM Sean Marks says Simmons is making progress from his back injury, Lewis tweets. “He’s not doing 3-on-3 or 5-on-5 yet. I was down there two weeks ago with him and the training staff and saw the progress,” Marks said. “Happy to report he’s in a great physical shape and also mentally. He’s rearing and champing at the bit to get out there.”
Cameron Johnson‘s new four-year contract, which has decreasing salaries during the second and third years, will increase the front office’s flexibility during the rebuilding process, Lewis notes.