Ben Simmons has yet to take the floor for the Brooklyn Nets. Ever since the team acquired him in a move with the Philadelphia 76ers ahead of the trade deadline, Simmons has been working to get to a place where he can take the basketball floor and help the team as they gear up for a playoff push.
Simmons’ apparent issue has been a back injury, and reports have indicated that it’s been a pretty difficult hurdle for him to clear in his attempt to play. The latest comes from Brian Windhorst of ESPN, who appeared on SportsNation and revealed that Simmons is apparently not close to making his debut.
“I wouldn’t buy any non-refundable tickets or hotel rooms, because Rich Paul, Ben’s agent, told me over the weekend that Ben is now considered week-to-week,” Windhorst said when asked if Simmons will be able to play in the Nets’ game in Philadelphia on March 10. “He’s had some back soreness, is what Steve Nash referred to it as. Six, seven days ago, the Sixers had a plan in place, from what I was told, that would have had both Durant and Ben Simmons back and active for that game on March 10, but now, that plan has been scrapped.
“Durant should be back this week, but Ben Simmons is week-to-week, and that game is next week,” Windhorst continued. “As of [Monday], Ben hadn’t even been able to do a full, 5-on-5 workout with the team yet, so he’s frankly not close. I don’t even know if he’s gonna be back in March.”
It is unclear if Windhorst misspoke and meant to say the Nets had a plan for that March 10 game. Brooklyn can certainly use Simmons’ help whenever he is ready, as the team has lost seven of their last 10 games and sit 32-31 on the year, good for eighth place in the Eastern Conference.