Ben Simmons’ tumultuous first season on the court with the Nets has officially come to an end.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn, who said this past weekend that he didn’t expect Simmons to rejoin the team this season, officially ruled Simmons out for the rest of the year on Tuesday due to a nerve impingement in his back.
Simmons' agent, Bernie Lee, told SNY NBA Insider Ian Begley that Simmons does not require surgery and that he and Simmons have "every expectation that Ben will be a Day One participant when camp begins next year without restrictions or issues."
"Ben’s process of seeking out the information of what’s going on has been a very lock-in-step effort with the Nets to clearly get an understanding of how to give (him) the opportunity to not only get healthy, but also his best path to long-term sustainable health, which allows him to regularly participate and play at the highest levels - something he has done since he entered the NBA," Lee told Begley. "We feel like we have been given really solid clarity as to what he is experiencing today, how and why and most importantly what needs to happen moving forward to allow him to move forward with consistency and regularity."
Acquired by the Nets ahead of the 2022 trade deadline in the blockbuster trade that sent James Harden to Philadelphia, Simmons didn’t suit up for the Nets last season as he dealt with lingering back issues.
While there were high hopes for Simmons coming into this season, injuries again hampered him, and he ended up playing in 42 games with 33 starts while missing significant time due to knee and back issues.
Even when Simmons was on the floor, he put up the worst numbers of his pro career, averaging career-lows in points (6.9), assists (6.1), and rebounds (6.3) per game.
Simmons, who turns 27 this July, is still under contract with Brooklyn through the 2024-25 season.
"Ben is a 26 year-old-guy who is just starting his career and clearly there have been some challenges recently," Lee told Begley. "But like every truly great person I’ve observed, Ben is motivated internally to continue to develop himself and his talent and test his ability and, most importantly, compete. He simply needs to gain the opportunity to be healthy which we believe we’ve found."
The Nets have endured as dramatic a season as any team in recent memory. From parting ways with head coach Steve Nash just seven games into the season, to the deadline trades of superstars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, to the uncertainty with Simmons’ status, Brooklyn has still found away to be in the thick of the playoff picture. The Nets currently hold the six seed in the East and are 2.5 games back of the Knicks.