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Nets Notes: Simmons, KD, Irving, Claxton, Aldridge

March 26th, 2022 at 10:55am CST by Rory Maher

Appearing on the Pat McAfee Show (Twitter link), Shams Charania of The Athletic said the Nets will be cautious with Ben Simmons, but there’s still an expectation that he’ll play this season.

Simmons received an epidural to treat the herniated disc in his back on March 15 and has been unable to do any basketball-related activities. However, he was able to travel with the team for the first time in a month during Brooklyn’s road trip this week and his back is starting to feel better, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

“Yeah he’s feeling a lot less pain,” coach Steve Nash said of Simmons, who still has to be cleared to practice 1-on-1, 3-on-3, and 5-on-5 before he can even be considered for playing. “I don’t have any major updates. His symptoms are improving and I think he’s progressing, but he’s not on the floor yet.”

Here’s more on the Nets:

Kevin Durant is relieved to have Kyrie Irving back for home games, ESPN’s Nick Friedell writes. Irving was recently exempted from New York City’s vaccine mandate. “It’s a long time coming,” Durant said. “It’s an exciting time for Brooklyn Nets fans and New York fans to see one of our own back on the floor at home. It means a lot to our team, happy to have him back, and look forward to finishing the season strong. I’m glad this is all behind us.”
Coach Steve Nash echoed a similar sentiment, Lewis writes in a separate article for The New York Post. “Yeah it’s great, we’re excited. Can’t wait to have him back for home games and for all our games,” Nash said. “We’ve missed him and it’s nice that we can not only have him back at home but also gain some reps and continuity together. We just are happy it’s over. We don’t have time to worry about anything other than we’ll have Kyrie at home now. … It’s positive in every sense of the word. We get to have him back, we don’t have to think about it, talk about it, worry about it. We’re moving forward, he’s able to play and it helps us in every way.”
In a Sports+ article for the Post, Lewis explores how not getting traded helped Nic Claxton regain his form. Through 38 games this season (19 starts, 20.3 MPG), Claxton is averaging 8.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 1.1 BPG. The 22-year-old center will be a restricted free agent this summer.
Coach Nash said LaMarcus Aldridge should be able to return to action next week, Lewis tweets. The veteran big man has missed Brooklyn’s last eight games with a right hip impingement.

Kyrie Irving Now Exempt From NYC’s Vaccine Mandate

March 24th, 2022 at 10:59am CST by Rory Maher

MARCH 24: In a press conference at Citi Field, Adams officially announced that New York City’s vaccine mandate exemption has been expanded to include local athlete and performers, tweets Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. That clears the path for Irving to begin playing in home games.

MARCH 23: Kyrie Irving has been unable to play home games the entire season for the Nets, but that could change soon.

As ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski and Jeff Passan relay, there’s cautious optimism that New York City’s private-sector COVID-19 vaccine mandate may be rolled back soon — Irving is unvaccinated, which is why he’s been unable to play in Brooklyn. Sources tell Wojnarowski and Passan that talks are progressing to the point that Irving may be able to return for home games as soon as next week.

Sally Goldenberg of Politco goes a step further than ESPN’s report, writing that NYC mayor Eric Adams plans to reverse the vaccine mandate for performers and athletes on Thursday.

Shams Charania of The Athletic hears the same as Goldenberg, reporting that Irving will be cleared on Thursday. The change will give exemptions to unvaccinated performers and athletes, Charania states, which is the current protocol for visiting players (Twitter links).

Irving, who turned 30 today, is averaging 27.7 PPG, 4.7 RPG, 5.3 APG and 1.4 SPG on .490/.430/.901 shooting through 19 games this season. The seven-time All-Star holds a $36.5MM player option for next season and can become an unrestricted free agent this summer if he declines the option.

With a 38-34 record, Brooklyn is currently the No. 8 seed in the East. The Nets hold a one-game lead on the No. 9 Hornets and trail the No. 7 Raptors by two games. It’s worth noting that if the season ended today, Irving still wouldn’t be able to play at Toronto (for the play-in tournament) due to the vaccine requirements to enter Canada.

Here are a few more notes on the Nets:

Seth Curry (left ankle sprain) and Goran Dragic (left knee soreness) are out for Wednesday’s game at Memphis, but coach Steve Nash is hopeful both guards will be able to play Saturday at Miami (Twitter link via Nick Friedell of ESPN).
Unsurprisingly, Nash says he “would welcome” Irving being able to play home games soon, tweets Friedell. Brooklyn’s next home game is Sunday, March 27, against Charlotte.
Nash also said he’d be comfortable using Ben Simmons in a playoff game for his potential season debut, although that may be in a limited role off the bench, Friedell relays (via Twitter). Simmons still isn’t doing any basketball-related activities as he deals with a herniated disc in his back.

Nets Notes: Simmons, Claxton, Aldridge, Durant

March 21st, 2022 at 7:25pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Nets guard Ben Simmons is dealing with a herniated disc in his back but he wants to make his season debut as soon as he can, The Athletic’s Shams Charania reports. Simmons received an epidural injection last week to relieve the soreness. He has dealt with back issues since February 2020, when he missed time due to a nerve impingement, Charania notes.

Simmons is expected to continue to work toward a return and would make his debut whenever he is fully cleared to play. However, it’s not certain that will happen this season.

We have more on the Nets:

Nic Claxton has seen his playing time expand since LaMarcus Aldridge was sidelined earlier this month, Peter Botte of the New York Post notes. Aldridge will miss at least another week with the hip injury that has kept him out of action since March 6. Claxton has averaged 10.2 PPG, 7.4 RPG and 1.2 BPG over the last five games heading into Monday’s home game against the Jazz. Claxton will be a restricted free agent this summer if the team extends a qualifying offer.
Kevin Durant doesn’t think the window of opportunity will close if the Nets come up short in the playoffs this season, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN. Durant, who signed a four-year, $198MM extension in August, says he expects Brooklyn to be serious contenders for years to come. “If you’re looking at it as if, like, this is our only chance to ever do something special with this group — and other people looking at it that way — then I can see why,” Durant said. “But to be honest, I signed here for five years to play. You know what I’m saying? Looking at, obviously this year’s important, but no matter what happens this year I still want to do it again. And again.”
Andre Drummond missed Monday’s game due to a non-COVID illness, Chris Milholen of Nets Daily tweets.

New York Notes: Simmons, Durant, Curry, Erman, Porzingis

March 19th, 2022 at 8:22am CST by Dana Gauruder

The Nets are preparing to move forward without Ben Simmons for the remainder of the season if necessary, NetsDaily.com’s Chris Milholen relays.

Coach Steve Nash didn’t have an update on Simmons, who received an epidural injection for his back injury this week. Nash said he’s just concerned with coaching the players who can suit up.

“I think we just have to focus on whose available right now,” Nash stated. “Whether Ben’s available, we’ll be very excited. We’ll get to work on how to find cohesion but right now we just got to focus on the games in front of us and who is available and manage the current squad.”

Simmons is still not doing any basketball-related activities and seems a long way from making his season debut.

“He’s done some individual workouts, and then he had the flare-up,” Nash said. “That’s a step he hasn’t got back to yet; individual on-court workouts.”

We have more on the New York teams:

The league issued a $25K fine to Kevin Durant for using profane language toward a fan, NBA Communications tweets. The incident took place during the second quarter of the Nets’ 113-111 loss to the Mavericks on Wednesday. A tweet from Durant in response to a video of the incident suggested he was anticipating being fined.
Seth Curry scored 27 points against Portland on Friday but the left ankle injury that kept the Nets guard out for three games will linger through the season, according to Mark W. Sanchez of the New York Post. “It’s been bothering me a while,” Curry said. “It’s probably not going to fully go away [until] the end of the season.”
Assistant coach Darren Erman will move to the front of the Knicks‘ bench in the aftermath of Kenny Payne‘s departure, Ian Begley of SNY TV tweets. Payne was named the head coach of Louisville, his alma mater.
Ex-Knicks forward Kristaps Porzingis got razzed by fans during the Wizards’ loss at Madison Square Garden on Friday, but he didn’t mind, according to Peter Botte of the New York Post. “I enjoy this. I enjoy playing at MSG, whether it’s at home before or now on the road. It’s always entertaining,” he said. “The biggest stage, and again, receiving the boos. … I love the city. I miss this city a lot. I miss a lot of people here.”

Sixers Notes: Harden, Embiid, Simmons

March 17th, 2022 at 5:36pm CST by Dana Gauruder

Sixers coach Doc Rivers wants James Harden to shoot more often, even though Harden has connected at a low percentage in recent games, according to Joe Vardon of The Athletic. “You’ve got to be careful to keep him in scoring mode, and not put him in passing mode, because he’ll go there,” Rivers said. Harden has officially taken 11 and 12 field-goal attempts in his last two outings and has averaged 17.6 points over the last five games.

We have more on the Sixers:

The 76ers are 7-2 in games that Harden has played, a promising start with his latest team, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes. Harden has asserted himself on the court as a leader and has made a good impression on his new teammates. “He’s a good teammate,” Rivers said. “Guys like him. And most of the time, guys like anyone who passes, to be honest. I think guys are already finding ways — ‘I can score off this cut. I can do things like this.’ It’s still a learning process. But you ingratiate yourself to your teammates really quickly when you start passing to them.”
Joel Embiid could use more rest but the team can’t really afford it at this point in the season, Pompey notes in a separate story. “I started feeling (fatigue), but I have to keep pushing because we have 15 more games,” he said. Embiid, one of the NBA’s leading Most Valuable Player candidates, has averaged 35.8 MPG this month and has played 56 games, five more than he has in each of the past two regular seasons.
Embiid remains baffled by the Ben Simmons saga, as he told Draymond Green on the Warriors forward’s podcast (hat tip to Ky Carlin of Sixers Wire). “I just didn’t understand what was going on, honestly. I didn’t understand what happened and what led up to that whole situation. To this day, I don’t understand. Even when you look at it and I don’t have any problems with him and like I say, obviously we didn’t win the championship together, but in the regular season, we went dominant every single season.”

Ben Simmons Has An Irritated Disc In His Spine, Receives Epidural

March 16th, 2022 at 5:17pm CST by Arthur Hill

Ben Simmons is suffering from an irritation of the L-4 disc in his lower spine, according to Ramona Shelburne and Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. It doesn’t appear he’ll be back any time soon, but Nets officials are hoping he can play a “couple” of games before the regular season ends.

Simmons received an epidural treatment for back pain while the team was in Orlando this week, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN (Twitter link). Doctors hope the injection will help ease the discomfort and speed up his return to the court.

Coach Steve Nash added that there’s still no timeline for Simmons to begin practicing, as the team has to see how he responds to the epidural. Nash said he remains hopeful that Simmons will be available before the playoffs start (Twitter link).

After acquiring him from the Sixers last month, the Nets originally set Friday’s game against the Trail Blazers as a target date for Simmons’ debut, sources tell Shelburne and Wojnarowski. However, that became unrealistic because he couldn’t get through more than a day or two of rehab without pain affecting his lower back.

Simmons continues to get treatment and is working to strengthen the affected area, the authors add. He has done some basketball activities in a 1-on-0 setting, but nothing more.

Nash admitted over the weekend that Simmons still isn’t ready for 1-on-1 games and has a long way to go before progressing to a 5-on-5 setting. The Nets have 13 games left in the season and at 36-33 are trying to climb into sixth place to avoid the play-in tournament.

New York Notes: Simmons, Durant, Payne, Sims

March 15th, 2022 at 4:03pm CST by Luke Adams

A pair of outside orthopedic specialists who spoke to Brian Lewis of The New York Post expressed skepticism that Ben Simmons will play for the Nets this season due to his ongoing back issues. However, head coach Steve Nash remains confident that Simmons will return, telling reporters on Tuesday that he has “extremely high hopes” about seeing the three-time All-Star before the end of the regular season.

“He’s just doing his rehab, strengthening,” Nash said, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “We’re still doing that side of things rather than court work right now.

“… The biggest thing we’ve tried to do is to have him be involved in everything. The traveling is the one caveat where sometimes you’re weighing the cost-benefit of him on airplanes and buses and different beds. When he’s with us we want him in every meeting, in every walkthrough, in every film session, whatever it may be so he’s around the group. We’d love for him to travel, be with the team all the time, but we have to weigh that scenario as well.”

The Nets have just 14 games left on their regular season schedule, and presumably would be reluctant to bring back Simmons in the middle for a play-in game of in the middle of the playoff series if he hasn’t gotten at least a few regular season reps under his belt.

Here’s more on the NBA’s two New York teams:

Nets star Kevin Durant missed too much time this season to be a legitimate MVP candidate, but John Hollinger of The Athletic believes Durant could be the league’s current “Most Dangerous Player” — in other words, the player opponents fear most in a short-term situation like a fourth quarter or playoff series.
The University of Louisville appears to be zeroing in on Knicks assistant Kenny Payne as its top head coaching candidate, sources tell Pat Forde of Sports Illustrated. Forde cautions that nothing is definite yet, but says if talks between the two sides go well, Louisville could announce a deal with Payne before the end of the week.
With the Knicks leaning more on rookie center Jericho Sims as of late, Mark W. Sanchez of The New York Post suggests that the possibility of losing big man Mitchell Robinson in free agency this offseason might be more palatable than it initially appeared. After appearing in just 18 of New York’s first 59 games and averaging 6.5 minutes per contest, Sims has played in the team’s last nine contests, logging 13.9 MPG. He had arguably his best game in Sunday’s loss to Brooklyn, scoring six points on 3-of-3 shooting and grabbing 10 rebounds in a season-high 23 minutes.

Ben Simmons “Not Ready For Even One-On-One”

March 12th, 2022 at 6:19pm CST by Arthur Hill

More than a month after trading for Ben Simmons, the Nets still have no idea when he’ll be ready to play, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

Simmons hasn’t participated in a full practice since coming to Brooklyn, and coach Steve Nash told reporters today that he has a long way to go to reach that point. General manager Sean Marks recently expressed hope that Simmons would be ready to practice by the end of this week, but today’s workout passed without any more clarity on the situation.

“He’s not ready for even one-on-one, let alone three-on-three, five-on-five,” Nash said. “So he’s got to get to a place where he can go full speed unopposed, one-on-oh, and then we’ll talk about and hopefully quickly he can go to one-on-one, three-on-three, five-on-five.”

Nash didn’t speculate on how long those steps might take, but Simmons is running short on time with just four weeks left in the regular season. Lewis notes that the Nets’ performance team typically requires players to go through three high-intensity workouts with no physical issues before clearing them to play.

Lewis adds that the March 18 game against Portland or the March 21 contest against Utah once seemed like realistic dates for Simmons to make his debut, but now it’s not certain that he’ll even be practicing by then.

Simmons’ infamous performance in Game 7 of the Hawks series in June is the last time he played in an NBA game. He was involved in a months-long standoff with the Sixers over mental health issues before Brooklyn acquired him in a blockbuster deal at the deadline.

Shortly afterward, Simmons suffered back tightness, which has prevented him from being cleared to practice by the Nets’ performance team.

“Yeah, a little setback, whatever that was,” Nash said. “So now we’re just trying to make sure we get that in the bag before we rush him out there and suffer a longer setback.”

Simmons did some shooting, ball-handling and light cutting during today’s practice session, but Lewis states that he was undergoing treatment from the training staff during the portion of the practice that the media watched.

Simmons had back issues during the 2019/20 season and suffered a nerve impingement in his lower back in February of 2021. He also had a flare-up while he was out of action this year, prompting questions about whether the back might be a long-term concern.

“I don’t want to classify it the wrong way, but he’s had back issues at times. So I don’t want to say he’s got a bad back, I don’t know if that’s fair,” Nash said. “He’s had a flare-up of something, but was really healthy for the last six months until the flare-up. So I don’t want it to be … I’m not sure that it’s fair for me to say he has a back problem. It’s just right now he has a flared-up back.”

Nets Notes: Simmons, Curry, Irving

March 11th, 2022 at 8:40am CST by Luke Adams

As expected, Ben Simmons faced plenty of invective from the Philadelphia faithful in his return to Wells Fargo Center, but it was the Nets who had the last laugh on Thursday night, blowing out the Sixers by a score of 129-100 in their first matchup since February’s blockbuster Simmons/James Harden trade.

Simmons, who has yet to make his Nets debut, was on the bench for the game and had no tangible impact on the outcome, but his teammates said they used the boos and insults aimed in his direction as motivation, writes Brian Lewis of The New York Post.

“Most definitely,” star forward Kevin Durant said. “We look at Ben as our brother, so we knew that this was a hostile environment and we knew he didn’t have an opportunity to play, so we wanted to come out there and have them focus on the court more so than just always focusing on him. So they focused on the court tonight, and it’s hard for you chant at Ben Simmons when you’re losing by that much.”

It’s a safe bet that Simmons will face more vitriol during future visits to Wells Fargo Center, especially once he’s actually on the court. But head coach Steve Nash said it was good for the three-time All-Star to get through his first experience as a visitor in Philadelphia.

“He looked good to me. He looked happy to be here,” Nash said, per Lewis. “I think he was happy to get it out of the way.”

Here are a few more Nets-related notes:

Nash said on Thursday night that Simmons won’t be a full participant or play any 5-on-5 during Saturday’s practice (Twitter link via Alex Schiffer of The Athletic). There has been speculation that Simmons will return to action before the end of the month, but there’s still no set timeline for his Nets debut.
Although Simmons was the focus on Thursday, another player who came along with him in last month’s trade played a key role in Brooklyn’s victory over Philadelphia. As Peter Botte of The New York Post details, Seth Curry‘s 24 points (on 10-of-14 shooting) against his former team were the most he had scored in a game since becoming a Net. “You could tell that he was really up for the game and up for the environment in returning to (face) his old team,” Nash said.
The Nets’ home-heavy schedule in the season’s final month means that Kyrie Irving is now eligible to play in just four more regular season games due to his COVID-19 vaccination status, Adam Zagoria of NJ.com observes. Irving also wouldn’t be able to participate in a play-in game if it takes place in Toronto or Brooklyn. If the season ended today, the Nets would visit the Raptors to battle for the No. 7 seed — if they lost that play-in game, they’d host Charlotte or Atlanta for the No. 8 seed.
While that outlook for Irving may sound ominous, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN said on Wednesday that the team still believes the point guard’s status will change in the not-too-distant future (hat tip to NetsDaily). “I think around the Nets there’s still a confidence – maybe even more than an optimism – that they’re going to get Kyrie Irving on a full-time basis at some point,” Wojnarowski said.

Nets Notes: Simmons, Aldridge, Irving, Marks, Peterson

March 8th, 2022 at 7:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Now a member of the Nets, Ben Simmons is expected to file a formal grievance against the Sixers at some point in the near future, league sources tell Kyle Neubeck of PhillyVoice.com. The goal will be to recoup some or all of the $20MM+ that Simmons lost in team fines during his season-long holdout in Philadelphia.

As Neubeck explains, the Sixers fined Simmons for each game he missed (costing him about $360K per game) because he didn’t meet with team doctors to discuss the mental health issues he cited as the reason for his absence and because the club never received documentation providing an explanation for his absence or details on his treatment plan. Neubeck’s sources likened the situation to a player suffering a physical injury and only consulting with an outside specialist, without keeping his team in the loop.

Neubeck suggests the reception Simmons gets in Philadelphia on Thursday when he sits on the Nets’ bench may play a part in his grievance — his camp will likely point to the vitriol he receives on Thursday as evidence for why he wasn’t mentally prepared to suit up again for the Sixers, according to Neubeck. Still, based on his conversations with league sources and people familiar with the NBA’s Collective Bargaining Agreement, Neubeck says the 76ers appear to be in a “much stronger position” in a potential arbitration case.

Here’s more on the Nets:

LaMarcus Aldridge, who had already been ruled out for Tuesday’s game in Charlotte due to a right hip impingement, returned to Brooklyn to undergo an MRI, head coach Steve Nash said today. As Brian Lewis of The New York Post tweets, Nash said the results of that MRI were mostly good, but Aldridge won’t rejoin the team on its current road trip, so he’ll miss Thursday’s game in Philadelphia too.
Speaking to reporters following the Nets’ loss to the Celtics on Sunday, point guard Kyrie Irving likened the Boston faithful who booed him every time he touched the ball to a “scorned girlfriend,” as Adam Zagoria of NJ.com writes. Irving also said that he feels like New York City mayor Eric Adams is “on my side,” though the private sector vaccine mandate that prevents Kyrie from playing in New York remains in place for now.
In a conversation with Steve Bulpett of Heavy.com, Nets general manager Sean Marks admitted that it was frustrating to never really see the Nets’ Big Three of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Irving together and healthy for an extended period, but said he’s excited to see what the new-look core looks like when everyone is available.
As part of his NBA 40 Under 40 series, Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic profiles Nets assistant GM Jeff Peterson, whom Marks refers to as a “great sounding board.” Peterson has played a key role in the Nets’ college scouting department and had a hand in the selections of Cam Thomas and Kessler Edwards last year, per Vorkunov.