During Nets general manager Sean Marks’ first comments regarding a franchise-changing offseason, he was asked about potential draft picks, a few teenagers, a coach who won’t debut for months and a player not even on the roster anymore.
Ben Simmons never even got here up, not asked about or commented on.
That’s how out-of-sight, out-of-mind Brooklyn’s only All-Star is.
His injuries have made him a forgotten man.
Simmons’ track record breeds skepticism.
But his camp insists he’s finally fit for the primary time as a Net.
“Ben has been doing his rehab and prep work for the upcoming season in Miami. He is thru the rehab stage and has moved on to strength and conditioning,” Simmons’ agent, Bernard Lee, told The Post. “Because there have been so many starts and stops previously I’ll simply say he’s in an important place and the expectation is he’s in a position to start the season one hundred pc of himself able to go.”
Simmons’ Brooklyn tenure has had more stops and starts than Flatbush and Atlantic at rush hour.
Acquired at the price of James Harden, Simmons has played just 57 games in parts of three seasons with the Nets.
What number of will he play within the fourth?
“You may’t count on Ben Simmons,” ex-Nets GM Bobby Marks told The Post.
With Simmons turning 28 this month and making $40.3 million in a contract yr on a rebuilding team, his situation is removed from ideal.
Most view him as an expiring take care of which the Nets can create all-important 2025 cap space, the important thing to their rebuild.
Marks projects Simmons as a minimum-salary player going forward.
Lee, his agent, sees a three-time All-Star with a probability to return to form.
“An outsider sees uncertainty but someone living it sees opportunity,” Lee said. “Ben is worked up to play basketball healthy. Which isn’t something he’s been in a position to do since he’s been in Brooklyn.
“So if he shows as much as training camp and he’s sharing the backcourt with the Brooklyn Knight and Mr. Whammy, he’ll figure it out. He’s focused on having the most effective yr of his profession and if he does I’m pretty sure all of that uncertainty will quickly disappear.”
What sort of role Simmons plays this upcoming season bears watching.
Brooklyn went right into a rebuilding process by trading Mikal Bridges.
It was a move that Simmons wasn’t warned about, unlike Nic Claxton and latest coach Jordi Fernandez.
“Ben’s done this for a very long time now and he’s learned to fret about himself and what’s in his control. He discovered like everyone else did and that’s his preference,” Lee said. “He has a job to do and he’s focused on that.”
When he’s fit, he’s done that job well — perhaps too well for a tanking team.
The Nets were a decent 7-8 with Simmons last season, but just 25-42 without him for a horrid .373 winning percentage.
Simmons’ defense helped Cam Thomas, who averaged 24.9 points and three.1 assists in 15 games playing alongside him.
Would a healthy start rebuild Simmons’ value enough for a trade?
“Overall, look … Ben is 27 years old … he’ll be 28 in just a few weeks. Due to the previous couple of years it sometimes seems easy to forget he’s a three-time All-Star, a two-time All-Defensive player and an All-NBA player,” Lee said. “His ability hasn’t modified, he was simply injured … it happens, he’s done the work to stop the cycle and hunt down the answers and execute the work.
“The work is his only way out of this and he knows that higher than anyone and he’ll be coming into the upcoming season as prepared as he’s ever been, able to do his job. All of us have eyes, now we have all seen within the times he’s taken the ground that there may be just something different about him, each time he’s in the sport he immediately has an impact and makes people around him higher and now he’ll get to do this healthy.”
During Nets general manager Sean Marks’ first comments regarding a franchise-changing offseason, he was asked about potential draft picks, a few teenagers, a coach who won’t debut for months and a player not even on the roster anymore.
Ben Simmons never even got here up, not asked about or commented on.
That’s how out-of-sight, out-of-mind Brooklyn’s only All-Star is.
His injuries have made him a forgotten man.
Simmons’ track record breeds skepticism.
But his camp insists he’s finally fit for the primary time as a Net.
“Ben has been doing his rehab and prep work for the upcoming season in Miami. He is thru the rehab stage and has moved on to strength and conditioning,” Simmons’ agent, Bernard Lee, told The Post. “Because there have been so many starts and stops previously I’ll simply say he’s in an important place and the expectation is he’s in a position to start the season one hundred pc of himself able to go.”
Simmons’ Brooklyn tenure has had more stops and starts than Flatbush and Atlantic at rush hour.
Acquired at the price of James Harden, Simmons has played just 57 games in parts of three seasons with the Nets.
What number of will he play within the fourth?
“You may’t count on Ben Simmons,” ex-Nets GM Bobby Marks told The Post.
With Simmons turning 28 this month and making $40.3 million in a contract yr on a rebuilding team, his situation is removed from ideal.
Most view him as an expiring take care of which the Nets can create all-important 2025 cap space, the important thing to their rebuild.
Marks projects Simmons as a minimum-salary player going forward.
Lee, his agent, sees a three-time All-Star with a probability to return to form.
“An outsider sees uncertainty but someone living it sees opportunity,” Lee said. “Ben is worked up to play basketball healthy. Which isn’t something he’s been in a position to do since he’s been in Brooklyn.
“So if he shows as much as training camp and he’s sharing the backcourt with the Brooklyn Knight and Mr. Whammy, he’ll figure it out. He’s focused on having the most effective yr of his profession and if he does I’m pretty sure all of that uncertainty will quickly disappear.”
What sort of role Simmons plays this upcoming season bears watching.
Brooklyn went right into a rebuilding process by trading Mikal Bridges.
It was a move that Simmons wasn’t warned about, unlike Nic Claxton and latest coach Jordi Fernandez.
“Ben’s done this for a very long time now and he’s learned to fret about himself and what’s in his control. He discovered like everyone else did and that’s his preference,” Lee said. “He has a job to do and he’s focused on that.”
When he’s fit, he’s done that job well — perhaps too well for a tanking team.
The Nets were a decent 7-8 with Simmons last season, but just 25-42 without him for a horrid .373 winning percentage.
Simmons’ defense helped Cam Thomas, who averaged 24.9 points and three.1 assists in 15 games playing alongside him.
Would a healthy start rebuild Simmons’ value enough for a trade?
“Overall, look … Ben is 27 years old … he’ll be 28 in just a few weeks. Due to the previous couple of years it sometimes seems easy to forget he’s a three-time All-Star, a two-time All-Defensive player and an All-NBA player,” Lee said. “His ability hasn’t modified, he was simply injured … it happens, he’s done the work to stop the cycle and hunt down the answers and execute the work.
“The work is his only way out of this and he knows that higher than anyone and he’ll be coming into the upcoming season as prepared as he’s ever been, able to do his job. All of us have eyes, now we have all seen within the times he’s taken the ground that there may be just something different about him, each time he’s in the sport he immediately has an impact and makes people around him higher and now he’ll get to do this healthy.”
