Ben Simmons could make his debut with the Brooklyn Nets soon. After the Sixers sent the three-time All-Star to Brooklyn for James Harden, Simmons could be bound to play basketball again in a few weeks.
According to Ramona Shelburne, the dynamic guard/forward is going to ramp his activity up this week and assess the situation. Simmons hasn’t played in an NBA game since the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals.
.@ramonashelburne with an update on Ben Simmons 📽️ "NBA Today"#NBATwitter #NetsWorld pic.twitter.com/s7X3XxjhVR — 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 🗣️ (@_Talkin_NBA) February 21, 2022
“Ben Simmons, from what I’m told, is going to really ramp it up this week and see where he’s at. He’s getting close. It’s going to be more like weeks [away] rather than months.”
The Nets have revamped their roster during the trade deadline. They received Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and Ben Simmons by sending James Harden to Philadelphia. They have recently added Goran Dragic from the buyout market.
Brooklyn will hope to integrate the new pieces and return to its winning ways. Steve Nash’s team won just two games in the last 14 before the All-Star break.
Simmons could be an important part of Brooklyn’s success going forward. Last year, he was the runner-up for the Defensive Player of the Year award behind Rudy Gobert.
After several disappointing performances in the 2021 playoffs, the three-time All-Star felt his teammates threw him ”under the bus” for losing to Atlanta in the East semifinals.
Simmons averaged 14.3 points on 55.7 percent shooting in the regular season. He also had 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists through 58 regular season games.
His stats dropped during the 2021 playoffs, averaging 11.9 points on 62 percent shooting. He also had averages of 8.8 assists and 7.9 rebounds through 12 games. He only shot 34.2 percent from the free-throw line.
However, the Sixers were a plus-12.9 when Simmons was on the floor during these 12 games. The Nets could benefit for Simmons’ defensive ability as they have Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to carry the offensive burden.
The Nets are at 31-28, which ranks them 8th in the Eastern Conference standings. Durant and Simmons together in the court could definitely turn the tides in the remaining 23 games of the regular season.
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