NEW YORK — Ben Simmons is back on the basketball court.
Nets coach Steve Nash confirmed reports that Simmons returned to team practice in the past few days, but also said the All-Star forward has not done much more than “light shooting.” It is the first sign of positive momentum for Simmons, who has yet to make his Nets debut since arriving in Brooklyn on Feb. 10 via the James Harden deal, first due to conditioning, then hampered further by a herniated disk in his lower back.
“He’s doing some light shooting,” Nash told reporters in Atlanta ahead of his team’s matchup against the Hawks on Saturday. “So, he’s on the court a little bit the past couple days, but nothing dynamic yet.”
A reporter then asked Nash if Simmons has done 1-on-1 workouts or if he’d characterize Simmons’ work as 1-on-0, or individual workouts.
“He’s not even moving around a lot,” Nash responded. “It’s just like some light shooting.”
Light shooting is more than Simmons has done since receiving a mid-March epidural to help alleviate the pain caused by the herniated disk in his lower back. Simmons has dealt with lower back issues since suffering a nerve impingement in February 2020 as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Nets acquired Simmons along with sharpshooter Seth Curry and starting center Andre Drummond in the deal for Harden and veteran forward Paul Millsap. Simmons did not play at all this season in Philadelphia, citing mental health issues. He recently filed a grievance to reclaim nearly $20 million in salary that was withheld from him from the Sixers, who have insisted Simmons breached his contract by failing to report to training camp on time and not participating in training camp activities.
Simmons and the Sixers, according to ESPN, disagreed over the amount of access the team and its doctors were granted to diagnose Simmons’ mental health.
Simmons’ return to on-court activities, even if it’s just light shooting, is a step in the right direction. He is a two-time All-Star, who is a unique fit for a Nets team heavy on shooting and scoring but light on playmaking and defense. Simmons is a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate who consistently ranks in the NBA’s top 20 in steals, assists, rebounds and field-goal percentage.
Nash told the New York Daily News he can see the comparison with Simmons to how Draymond Green plays for the Golden State Warriors. On a championship contender that already features Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the 25-year-old Australian playmaker could be Brooklyn’s ace in the back pocket.
But he has to get healthy first, and time is running out. The Nets played in their 78th regular-season game Saturday, which leaves just four more games until the play-in tournament begins.
Depending on seeding, the Nets could be eliminated in their first play-in tournament game. If they finish the season seventh or eighth, they will be able to sustain one loss before facing elimination.
If they are able to win their play-in tournament matchup, however, the Nets will also be biding time for Simmons to clear the Nets’ return-from-injury requirements. Simmons must progress from this “light shooting” to individual workouts, then move from 1-on-1 to 2-on-2, all the way up to 5-on-5 drills. And he must register three consecutive high-intensity workouts without suffering a setback in his back. He already suffered one setback in mid-March, which required the epidural.
The Nets can’t bank on Simmons’ return, as backs are tricky, but the light shooting is the first step, they hope, of many on his path to the floor. If he is able to return for the playoffs, he heightens the ceiling for an already formidable championship contender — a team that nearly beat the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks on Thursday, falling just one point short in overtime.
