Unlike the Philadelphia 76ers, who have now had James Harden in the lineup for a few weeks, the Brooklyn Nets are still waiting for the centerpiece they acquired in the blockbuster deal in Ben Simmons to make his debut on the court. Simmons has yet to play this NBA season, citing his mental well-being and a back injury as things keeping him sidelined.
With only 14 games remaining in the regular season, the Nets are running out of time to ramp up Simmons’ activity and get him ready to play. Simmons was however on the bench last week when the Nets traveled to take on the 76ers.
Head coach Steve Nash is extremely confident that the team will get Simmons back before the regular season ends. When that will be is anyone’s guess as he remains without an exact timetable to return.
Simmons won’t be making the trip with the team to take on the Orlando Magic, but since it is a road game, they will at least have Kyrie Irving in the lineup alongside Kevin Durant, who has been doing a lot of the heavy lifting and took home the most recent Eastern Conference Player of the Week award.
LATEST NBA NEWS: ‘Free Kyrie!’: Nets Fans, Players React To Irving Sitting Courtside
General manager Sean Marks recently discussed Simmons’ return to the court as well. He is hopeful that the process to ramp things up will begin soon.
“Unfortunately his back stiffness has delayed his ability to get on the court with his teammates. so he’s been rehabbing this last sort of week to 10 days,” Marks said. “And then now he’ll progress throughout this week with some individual [work]. Hopefully, by the end of next week he’s getting more into the team environment, and then we can really ramp up and start him getting into sort of game shape and so forth.
“Although there’s no real timetable, we’ve got to take it day by day and see how he responds. And hopefully sooner the better. We need to get this group together and get minutes together on the court.”
LATEST NBA NEWS: ‘Free Kyrie!’: Nets Fans, Players React To Irving Sitting Courtside
The Nets have championship aspirations, but it is hard to imagine them achieving that level of success without Ben Simmons in the mix. They would be putting themselves behind the eight-ball if he doesn’t get significant reps in the regular season to build chemistry and cohesion with his teammates before the postseason.
Brooklyn is currently on a three-game winning streak, stabilizing things after they sunk in the standings. 5.5 games clear of the 11th place Washington Wizards, the Brooklyn Nets should, at the very least, earn a spot in the Play-In Tournament. But, that presents some unique challenges as well, because as things currently stand, Irving wouldn’t be eligible to play in any of those contests.
