Ben Simmons moving to the Brooklyn Nets was never going to be a trade that paid immediate dividends but the hope was that the Australian would be able to take to the floor before the playoffs and gel with the team before the business end of the season. It doesn’t quite seem to have worked out that way so far though, with reports of Simmons’ fitness seemingly getting worse with time rather than better.
Simmons has been dealing with soreness in his back that has seen him stop basketball activities after he was initially seen working out with the Nets and gearing up for a return in March. However, the latest update from Steve Nash, as shared by Nets reporter Nick Friedell, suggests that there is now no timeline on Simmons’ return.
A couple follow ups from Nash:
Simmons isn't able to do anything right now. Simmons did a couple individual workouts in the beginning and hasn't been able to do anything since. Nash says he doesn't remember if Simmons was showing back issues or not during initial workouts.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) March 18, 2022
“Simmons isn’t able to do anything right now. Simmons did a couple of individual workouts in the beginning and hasn’t been able to do anything since. Nash says he doesn’t remember if Simmons was showing back issues or not during initial workouts.”
The Nets find themselves in the play-in tournament and with Kyrie Irving still not being able to play home games, they could really use Simmons on the court alongside Kevin Durant. His ability to get into the paint and playmake is something that could really take Brooklyn to the next level, although it remains to be seen if that will work out in reality as well as it seems on paper.
Irving is set to play in just 3 of the Nets’ remaining 12 regular-season games, which gives Ben a fairly short timeframe to make his return if he is to have an impact on the team. While Durant will always make the Nets a threat in any series they play, without a 3rd star and with Kyrie missing 3/4 games, Brooklyn likely won’t make it too far in the Eastern Conference.
