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Philadelphia isn't far from Brooklyn, but making the journey might feel like it took years in the making for new Brooklyn Nets star Ben Simmons.
Remember when Kyrie Irving had his first game of the season? It felt like so long between the fateful 2021 Nets' playoff game where Irving rolled an ankle landing on Giannis Antetokounmpo's foot and the January 5th game when Irving made his 2022 debut in Indiana.
Well, Simmons has been out of game action even longer. He wanted the Philadelphia 76ers to trade him, and he shared with the Philly brass he wasn't mentally ready to play for them back in October. Both the Sixers and the Nets traded players who no longer wanted to play for their respective championship-or-bust organizations–the two respective top seeds in the East a season ago engaged in the fateful league-altering blockbuster trade.
James Harden is now in Philly, and he'll be out through All-Star break, purportedly to nurse some hamstring tightness (which many in Brooklyn now question the severity of). Simmons has no timetable for return, but we did get an update.
After the James Harden-Ben Simmons blockbuster, Nets fans have wondered how much time might the Aussie need before he's ready to roll. Is there any lingering mental health stuff? What about a physical ramp up, is he at the requisite level of conditioning he needs to be? These are all reasonable questions.
But they come with greater urgency as a team led by Kevin Durant (still out since January 15 with an MCL sprain) and Kyrie Irving (ineligible to play at home) look to snap an agonizing 11-game losing streak. Had Simmons landed in Sacramento (the Kings being the Net's Valentine's Day opponent, as well as the team Harden last played against) there might be more leeway for a player in this unique position. Prior to tip off, coach Nash shared what he knew about Simmons' timetable to return.
“That's on the performance team,” said Nash. “They're gonna walk through an assessment and his return-to-play and ramp up and all that. It's been a long period of non-NBA activity [for Simmons, out since June 21st, 2021] so we'll see how they put his program together and how long it takes.”
Coach Nash was further asked if it will be up to the runner-up 2021 Defensive Player of the Year when he's ready. Nash pushed back on that phrasing and said it will be more of a team effort.
“I think it's a joint decision, we have to put him in a position to have the necessary conditioning underneath him and to feel safe with it, and then he also has to feel confident and comfortable that the time has come. so whenever that is hopefully there's a great partnership on those decisions.”
Simmons slowed down Trae Young considerably in Game 7 of last year's playoffs. The otherwise unstoppable Young shot just 5-of-23 from the floor in that one, but it was Simmons' offensive woes that garnered the most media and fan attention. When Simmons can play, Nash will want to maximize the playmaker offensively and leave him unchanged defensively.
“We haven’t really seen him we just got in the gym this morning and he was more doing his assessments and stuff so haven’t seen him working out yet,” added Nash.
When Simmons has ramped up physically, is Nash's expectation that Simmons will be ready or is there also that mental health component? For background, Sam Amick reported months ago that the 25-year-old might need a couple weeks following a trade before he could ramp up.
“I think it's hard for me to make a full commitment to anything on that statement, but I think he's in a pretty good place mentally. If we work with him in conjunction with his physical ramp up to make sure he's comfortable on and off the floor, I think he'll be ready to play mentally when he's physically ready,” Nash furthered.
"…I think he's in a pretty good place mentally. If we work with him- in conjunction with his physical ramp up to make sure he's comfortable on and off the floor I think he'll be ready to play mentally when he's physically ready."
-Steve Nash on Ben Simmons' mental health pic.twitter.com/fQDoYFUXqB
— DaveEarly (@DavidEarly) February 14, 2022
Seth Curry and Andre Drummond were actually ready to roll before the last game, a 115-111 loss to the Miami Heat. But because James Harden hadn't reported to Philadelphia yet, they couldn't suit up. That duo has a chance to etch themselves into this already weird season's memory by showing out and breaking this seemingly endless losing streak.
Durant is still out without timetable, the game's in Brooklyn so Irving isn't available either. Simmons still has a ways to go. Maybe Seth Curry can be the hero on Monday and get the Nets back into that elusive win column.
