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It has not been easy for Brooklyn Nets fans to watch the lovefest James Harden is having in Philadelphia with Joel Embiid, while Ben Simmons still has no timetable for his return to play. When Simmons first came to Brooklyn a few weeks ago, fans initially wondered if his mental health would bar him from appearing in games from the jump. Many of us had our eye on that March 10 showdown vs. Simmons' former team.
But where do things stand right now for the All-Star from Australia?
Nets general manager Sean Marks gave an update on Simmons' situation Thursday, amid plenty of speculation about what's really going on:
āUnfortunately, his back stiffness has delayed his ability to get on the court with his teammates. He's been rehabbing this last week to 10 days. And then now he'll progress throughout this week with some individual workouts. Hopefully by the end of next week he's getting more into the team environment and then we can really ramp up and start him getting into game shape.ā
General Manager Sean Marks provides an update on Ben Simmons
š„ @YESNetwork pic.twitter.com/ThNgkn8rDl
ā Brooklyn Nets (@BrooklynNets) March 3, 2022
Marks also notes there is āno real timetableā for Simmons' return to action.
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Before looking ahead and speculating even more, let's backtrack and look at what we learned over the last couple weeks:
Brooklyn has no set timetable for Simmons' return. It's uncertain whether the three-time All-Star will clear necessary return-to-play hurdles for Nets' March 10 return trip to Philadelphia, but team is treating as a day-to-day process. https://t.co/SnWVQeSWPS
ā Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) February 26, 2022
Recently we heard from ESPN's Ramona Shelburne that Simmons was āweeks not monthsā away. But that was odd, because nobody had thought it could be months before he'd suit up for his new team.
Then Shams Charania went on The Pat McAfee Show and compared Simmons' flare-up to Draymond Green's back issue. Green has been out for a long time and is set to miss months, plural, when it's all said and done. That's not ideal.
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Charania gave the dubious update that there was āoptimismā Simmons could return before the playoffs, which only put in fans' minds the idea that there's suddenly the terrifying specter he might not be.
ESPN's Brian Windhorst said he spoke to Rich Paul, head of Klutch Sports and Simmons' agent, and Paul told him Simmons is week-to-week. Windy, who has had his finger on the pulse of all things Simmons lately, made clear we shouldn't expect to see him on March 10 in Philly.
But one confusing angle of it all has been that the Nets went out of their way to downplay the severity of this flare=up. On Feb. 26, even after reports said Simmons had a more serious issue, head coach Steve Nash made it sound like the setback was very minor.
āYeah, I just saw the reports,ā Nash said, prior to the 126-123 win over the Milwaukee Bucks, when Kyrie Irving exploded for 38 points. āSame process, itās just like a little soreness in his back ā¦ itās not like an injury. Itās just as heās returning to play his backās flared up a little bit. But itās not a long-term thing.ā
*Listen to more on this subject on theĀ Nothing But Nets pod*
āHe hasnāt played a game since June,ā continued Nash. āSo thatās just part of his process of trying to play ā¦ as you ramp up youāre subject to certain things as you would be with muscle soreness or tightness, heās having a little tightness with his back.ā
But it turns out that Shams and Windhorst were right. There has been a setback that's clearly more serious than typical muscle soreness.
So, let's do a little math. Thursday is March 3, and Simmons will be doing individual work this week. He'll hopefully get back to the team environment by the endĀ of next week, which is March 12, after that showdown in Philly. If he hits that mark and can āramp up,ā he would need to progress through three high-intensity workouts without setback. That's the Nets' return-to-play reconditioning protocol; their fancy way of saying to āstay healthy and also get back in shape.'
As for this series of high-intensity practices, Kevin Durant had one of those under his belt, back on Feb. 24. He got the other two in sometime over the last seven days and is set to make his return against the Miami Heat on Thursday night. So, if Simmons also needs a full week for that process like KD, we might optimistically ballpark Simmons for a return somewhere during the week of March 21.
Brooklyn plays the Utah Jazz that day. If Simmons were active at that (again, optimistic) return date, he would be eligible to appear in 11 remaining regular-season games before the play-in tournament. It's not ideal, but if that were the case, the Nets would happily take it.
Still, the clock is ticking.
