As the basketball world keeps their attention on Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, young stud Ben Simmons is making progress towards a return to the court.
After over a year of inactivity, the Nets swingman has reportedly finally been cleared for three-on-three activities.
(via Shams Charania of The Athletic):
For their part, the Nets believe they have improved the roster and have a championship-level team. The Nets traded for Royce O’Neale, signed T. J. Warren and brought back Patty Mills and Nic Claxton while expecting the full returns of three-time All-Star Simmons and Joe Harris. All-Star Kyrie Irving also opted into his $37 million player option, committed to the 2022-23 season in Brooklyn and sources with knowledge of the situation say he has been working out with teammates and holding constructive dialogue with the organization this offseason. Brooklyn has made clear to interested teams that they plan to keep the seven-time All-Star, according to sources. The Nets were without Simmons and Harris for the majority of last season, including their playoff series against Boston, but both are set to provide a major boost to the upcoming campaign.
Simmons has been cleared for three-on-three basketball activities following back surgery in May, and he is on track to be cleared for full five-on-five activities in the coming weeks, league sources say. The Nets and Simmons expect him to be ready for training camp in late September.
Having not played an NBA game since the 2021 playoffs, a lot of questions have surfaced about what kind of performance we can expect from him moving forward.
Short term, it might take a while before he finds his All-Star form again. Long term, fans are hoping he’s able to add a long-distance jumper to his arsenal. If so, it could move him into the next tier of stardom.
Either way, Simmons is going to be on the Nets no matter what happens with KD and Kyrie. As a young and versatile two-way star, he brings a lot of value to the team and is sure to make himself useful under head coach Steve Nash.
