Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons prior to the game against the Phoenix Suns. / Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Nets have an agreement with Ben Simmons entering training camp. If Simmons is healthy and productive, he will play a lot of point guard in 2023-24.
“If Ben is able to play consistently at a certain way there’s no doubt, then, that he should have the basketball in his hands,” Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said on Tuesday.
Simmons hasn’t been able to play – with or without the ball in his hands – for much of the past two seasons. He didn’t play for the Nets in 2022 due to lingering back issues following a trade to Brooklyn. Last season, he was limited to 42 games (33 starts) due to back and knee ailments.
Will this season be different?
Both Simmons and the Nets feel optimistic about the answer to that question. The 27-year-old enters training camp next week without injury limitation.
“It’s been fun to see him play five-on-five and fun to see him put the work in (during) the summer,” Nets GM Sean Marks said during the club’s season-opening press conference on Tuesday. “So I think we’re all excited to see what translates during camp.”
Simmons was healthy entering training camp last season, but injuries and poor play dogged him for much of the year and missed most of the second half of the year due to that lingering back impingement. When healthy, Simmons averaged career-lows in points (6.9), assists (6.1), and rebounds (6.3) per game while sharing the floor with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant.
At the end of another frustrating season, there was a glimmer of optimism. Simmons and the Nets felt that they had a clearer understanding of his back ailment entering the offseason.
So there was hope on both sides that Simmons would be able to train all offseason and get back on the court for October.
“We feel like we have been given really solid clarity as to what he is experiencing, how and why and, most importantly, what needs to happen (now) to allow him to move forward with consistency and regularity,” Bernie Lee, Simmons’ agent, told SNY in late March.
Simmons had a strong offseason by…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/nets-ben-simmons-feel-optimistic-181438050.html
Author : SNY
Publish date : 2023-09-26 18:14:38
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