Georges Niang took a direct shot at his former Philadelphia 76ers teammate, Ben Simmons, saying the point guard “handicapped” them.
The power forward was a guest speaker on The John Kincade Show, and he minced no words when talking about the Sixers’ situation from last year’s unit to the present one. He admitted that he didn’t want to bring up the Nets star, but he did when Kincade asked him about the team’s run last season.
JOHN KINCADE: You’re five wins ahead of last year’s pace.
NIANG: We are? Well, Ben Simmons kind of handicapped us at the beginning of last year. I mean, I wasn’t gonna say it, but now, you know what I mean?
BOB COONEY: He’s out of the Nets rotation, by the way.
NIANG: Well, that ain’t none of my business. When you’re building rosters, talking from a general manager standpoint – I don’t know how much Simmons makes, but it’s a max contract. So you immediately take that off the books, ‘I’m not playing,’ you have to figure it out where other role players have to step up and replace, you know, the passing, dribbling, rebounding, defense…
Niang also spoke of the uncertainty around Simmons’ future with the Sixers. The Australian was finally traded to the Nets in February 2022, along with Andre Drummond (now with the Chicago Bulls), Seth Curry, and two future first-round picks, to the Nets for James Harden and Paul Millsap, following his controversial final run with Philadelphia.
Ben Simmons Gets Candid About His Role With The Brooklyn Nets
Ben Simmons is all at sea when it comes to his role with the Nets. By his own admission, he claimed to have “no idea” about his role in the team.
Per Kristian Winfield of The New York Daily News, Simmons spoke of the recent changes that rung in and the idea of coming off the bench.
Simmons says he has “no idea” what his role will be moving forward with this new-look team.
“Everything’s been changing all year, so it’s hard to really understand what’s going on, but hopefully we find some rhythm and consistency,” he said after shootaround Monday morning. “It’s different. It’s a different experience (coming off the bench). So whatever the team needs from us to win, I’m willing to do that.”
Simmons has been struggling this season, averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, and 6.1 assists. The new-look Nets have been on a win-one-lose-one run so far but have looked better with a 34-24 record.
But the Simmons fit is still a conundrum, and only time will tell if the guard will be back to his promising self in the days to come.
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