Getty Ben Simmons #10 of the Brooklyn Nets picks up a loose ball on the court.
Ben Simmons has been heralded as the piece the Brooklyn Nets are building around moving forward. With uncertainty around Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving all summer, the one consistency has been the Nets’ tone towards Simmons. After the Nets were eliminated from the playoffs and Simmons never made his Nets debut, fans quickly ran to the trade machine to propose trades they suggested to move on from the injured superstar. However, those proposals never came from the Nets front office side of things.
The Nets have remained consistent that they plan on building with the core and were looking forward to seeing their big three of Irving, Durant, and Simmons, with Simmons playing the center position for the Nets. However, that got flipped on its head when Irving’s contract negotiations were publicly messy. After Irving decided to return, Durant requested a trade on a phone call with Joe Tsai. That led to an eventual ultimatum, and here we are.
While the future of Irving and Durant remains uncertain, the Nets got an important update about their third All-Star, Ben Simmons.
Ben Simmons is ‘Ready’ for Next Season
Stephen A. Smith returned to First Take on August 15, and in his return, unleashed an epic rant about the KD saga in Brooklyn, but he also shared about a conversation that he had with Ben Simmons.
“I ran into Ben Simmons, he and I had a nice conversation. I had a problem with him not playing, the past is the past, he is ready to go. He swears he is ready to go. I’m rooting for the brother,” Smith shared on the August 15 episode of First Take.
Smith has been loud in his criticisms of Simmons in the past, even calling the All-Star ‘pathetic‘ after not appearing in the playoffs for the Nets. However, his tone towards Simmons seems to have changed following his conversation. He noted that Simmons got real personal with him about what he was going through last year but reassured the analyst that he is ready for this upcoming season.
Simmons Working Hard for Brooklyn Debut
At the close of last season, the Nets gave Simmons a list of expectations and a plan for his return to Brooklyn. They preferred that the Australian point guard completed as much of his rehab and spent time this summer in Brooklyn. A goal that Simmons took seriously. Simmons was everywhere, from the gym working out to schools within the Brooklyn community as an ambassador of the Nets, and even a movie premiere in support of a WNBA documentary on the New York Liberty which he attended with Nets co-owner Clara Wu Tsai, general manager Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash.
The Nets anticipate playing Simmons at center next season in a very versatile roster. Simmons, who was a runner-up from the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year in 2020, can guard positions 1-5 and allows the Nets to play a lethal lineup should Durant and Irving return to Brooklyn. Whether that happens is hard to say, but the latest Ben Simmons news is encouraging. Especially with the uncertainty still swirling around Durant and Irving.