Tag: Ben Simmons

Nets’ Cam Johnson says healthy Ben Simmons gives team potential

Brooklyn Nets forward Cam Johnson recently said that a healthy Ben Simmons gives the Nets a lot of potential to play better than expected.

The Brooklyn Nets are headed into a full rebuild now that they have traded Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks, triggering a major franchise reset. With Brooklyn expected to be one of the worst teams in the NBA following the trade of Bridges, there is one veteran forward on the team who believes differently.

Nets forward Cam Johnson recently said to the media at the Las Vegas Summer League that Brooklyn could surprise some people if they are able to get a healthy Ben Simmons. What makes Johnson’s statement interesting is that he may be on the team next season to see what could happen, but he is also considered a trade candidate because of the team going into a rebuild.

“We get a healthy Ben (Simmons) back, and with the stuff we were able to do with him in the lineup last year, I think there’s a lot of potential,” Johnson said (h/t to Michael Scotto of HoopsHype). While most would agree that the Nets are projected to be one of the worst teams in the league because of the lack of star power, but a healthy Simmons is something that has proved to be elusive for him for the past few years.

Simmons, 27, has played in just 57 games in his 2.5 seasons with Brooklyn since coming over as part of the James Harden trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. Simmons has dealt with a variety of injuries, but the back ailments have slowed him down the most as he appears to have been robbed of the elite athleticism that made him an All-Star with the 76ers.

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Nets’ Ben Simmons’ agent says his client should be 100% to begin season

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons should be 100% to begin next season, per what his agent, Bernie Lee, told Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

The Brooklyn Nets are embarking upon a full rebuild now that they have acquired plenty of draft capital through their various trades over the past few years. As Brooklyn goes through its latest attempt to build through the draft to return to relevancy in short order, they still have a player on the roster who could be impactful.

Per Brian Lewis of the New York Post, Nets guard Ben Simmons’ agent, Bernie Lee, said that his client “has been doing his rehab and prep work for the upcoming season in Miami.” Simmons has been recovering from the nerve impingement in his back that ended his season in March after playing in just 15 games.

“He is through the rehab stage and has moved on to strength and conditioning,” Lewis wrote based on what Lee told him about Simmons’ progress this summer. “There have been so many starts and stops previously. I’ll simply say he’s in a great place and the expectation is he’s able to start the season 100 percent of himself ready to go.”

It is good news that Simmons has moved on to doing strength and conditioning as he has spent the past few years mostly doing rehab just so he can get back on the court. Assuming that everything goes well, Simmons should be in a better position to begin the 2024-25 season than any of the previous 2.5 seasons that he’s been in Brooklyn.

Simmons averaged 6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 58.1% from the field and 40.0% from the free-throw line during a season in which he did not look like himself at any point outside of the first few games of the season.

Simmons is due to make $40.3 million this season and since the plan is for Simmons to be a crucial part of the team’s winning efforts, one has to be skeptical that this upcoming season will be anything but the same verse as the first.

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Nets’ Ben Simmons’ deal could be useful heading into 2025 NBA offseason

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons is owed $40.3 million heading into the final year of his deal and the Nets should take advantage of that.

The Brooklyn Nets added themselves to the list of teams that are looking to rebuild after trading Mikal Bridges to the New York Knicks in exchange for three players and a haul of draft picks. Naturally, with Brooklyn staring down a rebuild, it has been rumored that Ben Simmons is on the trading block.

The question that should be asked is what kind of trade would be worth it for the Nets to trade him away? Simmons is heading into the final season of the five-year, $177 million extension that he signed during his days with the Philadelphia 76ers and he is slated to earn $40.3 million over the course of the 2024-25 campaign.

Some Nets fans have come to a logical conclusion of trading Simmons since he should be easier to trade now than ever before now that he is an expiring contract and as the NBA world saw over the past week, having cap space is more important than ever before under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).

However, the case can also be made that Simmons should only be traded, assuming that Brooklyn is even open to that with their previous comments implying that Simmons is a significant part of the team, if the Nets are getting back assets that help their rebuild like draft picks and/or young players.

At this point, even if Simmons is unable to play in a lot of games this upcoming season due to injuries or is just less productive than Brooklyn hoped, the worst thing that can happen is that the Nets will have $40.3 million of cap space freed up for next summer.

It should be noted that Brooklyn will have three first-round picks in the 2025 NBA Draft so it’s unlikely that they will be looking for the top free-agents next summer or even be attractive to those players unless something significantly changes between now and then.

Simmons has also worked out well as a backcourt partner with Cam Thomas in the past so having the two as the starting backcourt duo could do wonders for Thomas’ development in a rebuilding year for the Nets.

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NBA draft rewind: Sixers take Ben Simmons No. 1 overall in 2016

The Philadelphia 76ers selected Ben Simmons with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft.

With the 2024 NBA draft approaching quickly–Round 1 of the draft is set for June 26–now is the time to look back at some of the previous draft picks the Philadelphia 76ers have made in recent years.

Entering the 2016 NBA draft, the Sixers were coming off a tough 10-72 season which earned them the No. 1 pick in the draft. The lottery luck earned them the right to land LSU star Ben Simmons to add to Joel Embiid as Philadelphia continued to grow its young core.

While Embiid was able to finally play in the 2016-17 season after missing two seasons, Simmons missed the entirety of his rookie season. He made his debut in the 2017-18 season and averaged 15.8 points, 8.2 assists, 8.1 rebounds, 1.7 steals, and 0.9 blocks on his way to winning Rookie of the Year and guiding the Sixers to the playoffs.

Simmons then became a 3-time All-Star and was named to the All-Defensive Team twice while also being named an All-NBA Team member in 2020. He was absolutely phenomenal during his time with the Sixers outside of not developing a jumper.

Unfortunately, things went sour after the 2021 playoffs. Simmons and the Sixers were eliminated in Game 7 of the semifinals by the Atlanta Hawks and he asked for a trade. After a long first half of the season where he didn’t play at all, Simmons was sent to the Brooklyn Nets in the big James Harden deal at the 2022 deadline.

Simmons has played only 57 games across 2.5 seasons with the Nets due to an unfortunate back injury as he has had to battle through some pain in Brooklyn.

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Nets’ Ben Simmons’ contract ranked one of the worst in the past 5 years

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons was listed by Bleacher Report’s David Kenyon as having one of the worst contracts over the past 5 years.

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has had one of the most eventful stories over the past three seasons as plenty has happened to him and the teams that he’s been on. Brooklyn heads into the 2024-25 season hoping that Simmons can be healthy for most of the season while looking somewhat close to what he was with the Philadelphia 76ers.

David Kenyon of Bleacher Report recently wrote an article listing seven players that have had the worst contracts over the past five seasons and anyone reading this knows where this is going. Simmons was one of the players listed, along with the likes of players like Philadelphia 76ers forward Tobias Harris and Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal.

Simmons, 27, is heading into the final year of a five-year, $177 million designated rookie extension that he signed with the 76ers in July of 2019. While most NBA fans are familiar with Simmons because of how much he is talked about due to his inability to remain healthy and his lack of production compared to his deal.

Simmons was in a unique position as he didn’t play his first season in the NBA after fracturing the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot in training camp. However, Simmons won Rookie of the Year for the 2017-18 season and he followed that up by being named first team All-Defense, third team All-NBA, made his first All-Star game, and earned the fourth-most votes for Defensive Player of the Year.

Simmons making this list as one of the worst contracts over the past half-decade is not surprising given that he only had one season (2020-21) where he performed to his expectations while making the big bucks. Since that season, Simmons has been dealing with a variety of injuries, mostly with his back, and when he’s been healthy, he’s looked like a shell of his former self.

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Report: Nets had talks with Hornets about Ben Simmons-Miles Bridges trade

Per Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports, the Brooklyn Nets talked with the Charlotte Hornets about a trade swapping Ben Simmons for Miles Bridges.

The Brooklyn Nets are one of the teams in the NBA that have been looking for as much talent as they can get after the end of the Big 3 era. As a matter of fact, it looks like Brooklyn was reportedly having conversations about a trade regarding the most expensive player on its roster.

“Charlotte (Hornets), sources said, held conversations with Brooklyn about swapping (Miles) Bridges in a package that would have brought Ben Simmons to the Hornets in February,” Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports wrote in his latest column regarding the current state of the free-agency market. Fischer was speaking to sources telling him that Bridges could be looking for a big contract this summer, but the Hornets could be willing to let him go elsewhere.

“And while Bridges could command upward of $30 million, sources said, the Hornets are also believed to be open to parting with Bridges by way of sign-and-trade, should a productive opportunity present itself,” Fischer wrote. Brooklyn does not have much cap space this summer, but they appear to be focused on using what they have left to re-sign Nic Claxton and fill out the rest of the roster with minimum contracts from there.

That isn’t to say that the Nets wouldn’t be interested in Bridges at the moment as they were reportedly in conversations for his services in the first place. There is no reporting on this, but there is a possibility that Brooklyn could be willing to do a sign-and-trade with Charlotte assuming that they are still willing to take on the last year of Simmons’ deal that is worth $40.3 million.

While Bridges, 26, is coming off a 2023-24 season in which he averaged 21.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 46.2% from the field and 34.9% from three-point land, acquiring him has more implications to at hand than just his ability on the court.

Bridges served a 30-game suspension without pay as a result of a domestic violence incident involving the mother of his children last season and missed the first 10 games of the season. Social media was rife with people who did not approve of the NBA giving Bridges just a 30-game suspension and plenty of fans made their feelings known.

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Nets’ Ben Simmons posts interesting message on Instagram story

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons recently posted an interesting message on his Instagram page while showing himself going into the gym.

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has not had the kind of tenure with the Nets that everyone hoped for when he came to the team in the middle of the 2021-22 season. In his 2.5 seasons in Brooklyn, Simmons has played in just 57 games due to injuries, but he has a message for everyone who has gave up on him.

Simmons recently posted a picture of himself on Instagram in what appears to be him entering a gym to most likely continue the offseason workouts that he is famous for at this point. The interesting part of the picture is a sign that reads “it hits different when you bet on yourself and it pays off.”

While this kind of picture is bound to be a major topic of conversation amongst the Nets fanbase, it may be more worth it to break down what Simmons could be saying here. It’s safe to say that most of the fanbase is skeptical of Simmons’ ability to contribute to the team that they hold dear that is still reeling from the breakup of the Big 3.

Simmons, who was acquired by the Nets in exchange of James Harden, one of the superstars in the Big 3, has not done much to gain anyone’s trust in him being able to produce at the star level that he was expected to. All Simmons can do now is rehab his back that has been bothering him for the past few years and hope that he can be healthy enough to play most of next season.

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2016 NBA redraft has Sixers selecting Domantas Sabonis over Ben Simmons

A redraft of 2016 has the Philadelphia 76ers selecting Domantas Sabonis No. 1 overall instead of Ben Simmons.

The Philadelphia 76ers held the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft and were looking to add another impactful player to help move the rebuild forward. The Sixers were ready to add Joel Embiid to the mix plus the top pick from this draft.

With that No. 1 selection, the Sixers selected do-it-all LSU star Ben Simmons. Philadelphia was getting the obvious pick from that draft and despite missing the entire 2016-17 season due to an injury, Simmons ended up winning Rookie of the Year the following season and was named an All-Star three times and named All-NBA Third Team in 2020.

Obviously, the Simmons era took a wrong turn. He was unable to expand his game with the addition of a jumper and things went sour in the 2021 offseason. He was traded to the Brooklyn Nets in the big James Harden trade at the 2022 deadline.

In a redraft done by HoopsHype, the Sixers are selecting Domantas Sabonis at No. 1 overall rather than Simmons:

One of the best centers in the NBA today, Domantas Sabonis is modernized enough to thrive thanks to his face-up skills and playmaking ability. That has helped the former Gonzaga Bulldog to not go the way of other dinousar-type, paint-bound big men. His defense is lacking but on offense and on the glass, he’s a star-level big man.

A tandem of Sabonis and Embiid is a tantalizing one to think about. For his career, Sabonis averages 15.7 points, 10.3 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. He averaged 8.2 assists for the Sacramento Kings in the 2023-24 season and his passing ability next to Embiid would certainly be interesting to see.

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Another trade proposal sees the San Antonio Spurs slow down their rebuild with Ben Simmons

What if the Spurs went the opposite direction from expectations?

A recent trade proposal from Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report fame had the San Antonio Spurs speed up their rebuild to get star Cleveland Cavaliers shooting guard Donovan Mitchell to play alongside San Antonio star forward Victor Wembanyama next season.

But what if the Spurs went the opposite direction from expectations, and got worse on purpose for next season? That’s exactly the idea Bailey had later on in the same article as his other San Antonio proposal. The deal would send Keldon Johnson for Simmons and a pair of second round picks added to the pot to sweeten the deal.

Noting that the 2025 draft class has much more lauded prospects like Cooper Flagg in it, the B/R analyst writes that despite the inevitable losses, “a future with Wembanyama and Flagg would be worth it.”

“Johnson may not be a surefire future star, but he’s at least a rotation player,” adds Bailey.

“Since the Nets can’t really tank—the … Rockets have control of their first-round picks through 2027—replacing Simmons’ minimal contributions with another rotation wing to pair with Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson would make sense.”

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Mock trade sees Bulls land Nets guard Ben Simmons

A recent mock trade sees the Chicago Bulls flip Zach LaVine for Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons.

The Chicago Bulls are reportedly determined to find a trade for Zach LaVine this summer. They want to move on from the LaVine era in Chicago. Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report recently mocked up a deal that would send LaVine to the Brooklyn Nets for Ben Simmons, a 2027 first-round pick (via PHI; top-8 protected), and a 2027 first-round pick (via PHX; lottery protected).

“Chicago can onboard his expiring $40.3 million contract with a couple of protected picks attached and bask in its newfound optionality,” Hughes wrote. “This assumes the Bulls will also deal away Nikola Vučević, Alex Caruso and anything else that isn’t bolted down or named Coby White.

“Brooklyn could even flip LaVine next year or the one after to recoup the picks it spent to dump Simmons, and everyone leaves the exchange satisfied.”

Simmons hasn’t been a consistent player in years, but if it means the Bulls can get off of LaVine’s contract, it could be worth making the deal.

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