Getty Ben Simmons (left) and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.
Despite having to trade away All-Star shooting guard James Harden in the middle of last season, most fans were receptive to All-Star forward Ben Simmons coming to the Brooklyn Nets. Simmons, at just 25 years old, is already a three-time All-Star and was one of the finalists for the 2021 NBA Defensive Player of the Year award. As good as Harden is, he had a skill set that was already provided by Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. But Simmons could help fill a gaping void that the Nets have with his defense, size, and elite level of playmaking.
But so far, Simmons has yet to make his Nets debut. A back injury flare-up held him out in 2022 and eventually required him to have off-season surgery. Though he expects to make a full recovery, when the next season starts in October, 15 months will have elapsed since his last NBA game. The Nets are playing a dangerous game by putting so much hope into Simmons, but one rival executive says Brooklyn really doesn’t have any other option.
“I don’t think they want to trade him at this point because they need him to get back on the floor, to play well, to get his trade value back up,” the rival executive said to Heavy’s Sean Deveney. “It’s obviously very low at this point. They have their other issues with Kyrie and Kevin Durant, those are taking precedence right now.”
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Nets Urged to Trade Simmons for ‘Right Offer’
With Kyrie and KD’s future in Brooklyn being uncertain, along with Simmons’ health, the Nets are entering a dangerous territory as their future hangs in the balance.
And although the rival executive affirms that the Nets would be better off keeping Simmons on the roster at this time, they are in the midst of a nearly unprecedented situation. And if the right deal for their newly acquired star comes along, they would have no choice but to at the very least, consider it.
“But the right offer, they would have to listen,” the executive added. “They do not want to go full into a rebuild that is not the intention from the conversations they’ve had. But if they can get frontline talent and young assets, they would have to consider it.”
Insider: Nash Was Factor in Harden’s Exit
Things unraveled quickly for the Nets last season, which led to Harden demanding a trade that sent him to the Philadelphia 76ers and Simmons to Brooklyn. Many believed the reason for Harden’s request was the absence of Kyrie Irving, who refused to take the COVID Vaccine. But Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson of “Bally Sports,” says Harden wanted out because of Nash.
“There are a few things that you could do because I think that for Sean Marks, the issue with James Harden was a Steve Nash issue, not a Kyrie issue, as what was widely reported,” Robinson said to said on Sirius XM Radio with Rick Kamla and Antonio Daniels on July 13.
The Nets’ future still hangs in the balance. It will be interesting to see what the roster will look like at the start of the season.
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