Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn reiterated Tuesday that the team has had “zero discussions” about shutting down Ben Simmons amid another extended absence. Simmons missed Brooklyn's last two games due to knee soreness and will miss the next two with the Nets on a back-to-back Tuesday vs. Milwaukee and Wednesday at New York.

This marks the 26-year-old's third extended absence this season due to the knee ailment. Simmons said Friday that he had the knee drained and received a PRP injection at the end of the All-Star break. Vaughn said pregame Tuesday that the big man has not received an MRI, reiterating that Simmons will continue a “strengthening period” in an attempt to prevent further issues.

“It’s just us trying to take advantage of where we are in the calendar coming off of All-Star,” Vaughn said. “We want to get to a position where we have no reoccurrence of swelling or anything of that nature.”

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Vaughn was non-committal when asked what Brooklyn needs to see from Simmons for him to return to the lineup.

“I don’t want to get into markers and what he’s doing on a daily basis,” the coach said. “I just kind of want to put it all in the bucket of strengthening. That’s what it is at the end of the day, whether that’s consisting of weight room stuff, whether that is conditioning stuff, whether that is basketball stuff, it’s all built around him trying to strengthen and get back to playing.”

The four-game absence will mark 20 missed games for Simmons this season. When on the floor, the former number-one pick has struggled to regain his accustomed production, averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists. Those struggles pushed Ben Simmons out of the starting five upon returning from his most recent absence.

With the three-time All-Star sidelined, the Nets have turned to second-year big-man Day'Ron Sharpe, as well as Dorian Finney-Smith in small-ball lineups, to backup Nic Claxton.