The Nets have formally misplaced the Ben Simmons commerce.
It’s the most important misstep by a corporation that went all-in on star energy a yr and a half in the past, solely to nuke your complete undertaking when Kyrie Irving requested a commerce 48 hours forward of the Feb. 9 NBA commerce deadline.
The Nets traded a disgruntled James Harden for what they hoped can be a promising foundational piece in Simmons, who had missed your complete first half of the 2021-22 season in Philadelphia citing psychological well being points.
Back points saved him out the rest of that season when he arrived in Brooklyn — and so they’ll shut him down the remainder of the best way this time round, too.
The Nets introduced on Friday that Simmons has been identified with a nerve impingement in his decrease again. In an announcement, the workforce stated he’ll “remain out of action while we determine the best long-term course of treatment.”
Simmons had already missed 15 straight video games popping out of the nine-day NBA All-Star break layoff as a consequence of what the workforce known as left knee/again soreness. He had fluid drained from his left knee and acquired a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection each he and the Nets hoped would assist him get by the again ache.
Lots just like the epidural he acquired final March to assist him work by the herniated disk, nevertheless, the injection didn’t ship the specified outcomes.
Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn reiterated the workforce had “zero conversations” about shutting Simmons down 4 instances for the reason that All-Star break, however after he defined Simmons had but to observe in a workforce setting on Tuesday, it grew to become unattainable to ascertain a state of affairs the place the embattled ahead can be clear to play at a excessive stage in must-win video games for Brooklyn’s playoff hopes.
Now his standing — and his contract — hover like a darkish cloud above Barclays Center.
Simmons’ again points have erased any modicum of commerce worth a once-promising two-way participant has this offseason. He is due $77 million over the subsequent two seasons, however he has been unable to remain wholesome sufficient to persistently play in video games.
And when he did play, his affect was negligible, if not dangerous to the Nets throughout prolonged stretches: Simmons has averaged six factors, six rebounds and 6 assists by 42 video games for the Nets. He was moved to a bench position in favor of far much less adorned gamers who’ve confirmed themselves extra impactful of their minutes, and his head coach has defined to the media intimately the difficulties of discovering lineups that each work to Simmons’ strengths and nonetheless give the workforce a great likelihood to win.
“It’s going to be some work that we have to do,” Vaughn when requested about how Simmons matches into the new-look Nets’ rotation after the deadline. “You simply check out what the lineups might probably seem like.
“You put a big next to Ben, then you got to figure out what the spacing is around him. Then if you put a playmaker next to him, then you got to figure out what Ben looks like without the basketball. Then if you go small with Ben, then you got to figure out can you rebound enough with him…You see the challenges that lie ahead.”
The problem that lies forward in Brooklyn is extracting what’s left of Simmons — whether or not that’s commerce worth or precise affect on the court docket. He was as soon as a dominant two-way participant who averaged 16 factors, eight rebounds, eight assists and two blocks to go together with three All-Star appearances and two First-Team All-Defense honors in his 4 seasons in Philadelphia.
Simmons is on tempo to overlook the remainder of the season. It’s unclear if he’ll stay in a Brooklyn Nets jersey shifting ahead — or if there are any takers on the market keen to make the identical gamble the Nets made buying and selling for him within the first place.
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Source: www.bostonherald.com