Getty Ben Simmons of the Brooklyn Nets.
After all of the reports and speculation surrounding Ben Simmons’ debut for the Brooklyn Nets, it appears we finally have a date for his return to basketball.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweeted on April 20 that Simmons has a “realistic target” of April 25, when the Nets play Game 4 of the first round of the Eastern Conference playoffs against the Boston Celtics in Brooklyn.
Based on Ben Simmons’ progress in practices this week – and the anticipation of him further accelerating in the coming days – Game 4 vs. Boston on Monday is looming as a realistic target for his Brooklyn debut, sources tell ESPN.
Bringing back Simmons, a three-time all-star, could make the Nets all the more challenging for the Celtics in their best-of-seven series. Heading into their April 20 game in Boston, the Celtics have a 1-0 lead in the series. However, because Simmons hasn’t played since June 2021 and because his role will be different from the one he had in Philadelphia, no one knows what exactly to expect when he takes the floor.
It’s unclear how many minutes Simmons would play upon his return. In an April 10 story, Wojnarowski reported that sources said Simmons likely would see 10 to 15 minutes of action.
“Simmons has been moving more freely on the court and advanced to shooting,” Wojnarowski wrote.
A day earlier, the Nets tweeted a video showing Simmons, 25, looking healthy and take jump shots.
Simmons Hasn’t Been Completely Ruled Out for Game 3
Although Simmons’ targeted return is Game 4 of the first round, there appears to be a chance that he could come back even earlier. Wojnarowski followed up his April 20 tweet with another one saying that that the Nets haven’t ruled him out for Game 3, which is scheduled for April 23 in Brooklyn.
Game 3 hasn’t been fully ruled out yet, but that would require Simmons to clear more hurdles in a much shorter window of time, sources said.
However, it would take a lot of progress in a short amount of time for him to do so.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania confirmed Wojnarowski’s reporting, tweeting on April 10 that “as long as his progression continues in strengthening his legs and back,” Simmons’ return is likely.
Considering there was plenty of speculation that he wouldn’t return at all this season, it’s fair to assume that his recovery has been swift enough that returning even earlier than his realistic target date isn’t entirely out of the question.
Ime Udoka Says Boston Will Be Ready for Simmons
Because there’s been so much attention given to Simmons’ potentially playing in the Nets’ first-round matchup against the Celtics, Boston was forced to keep him in mind in case he made an appearance. Now that there appears to be more and more belief that Simmons will be playing at some point during this series, the Celtics now have more game-planning to do. Head coach Ime Udoka didn’t sound too concerned when he talked about Simmons before Game 2.
Udoka said Celtics will “start to talk about” Ben Simmons if it becomes more of a possibility he’ll play in this series. Udoka pointed out he and the team are very familiar with Simmons.
“I don’t think it’s a problem for our guys. We have a group that’s seen him quite a bit.”
Since Udoka was an assistant coach for the Philadelphia 76ers during the 2019-20 season, it would make sense that he would know how to best combat Ben Simmons since Simmons was once one of his players. Much like how because Udoka was also an assistant coach for the Nets last season, he already has an edge as the head coach because he also knows exclusively how their other players play too.
No matter if and when Simmons plays, it sounds like the Celtics will be prepared for the worst the Nets can throw at them at full strength.
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