The Brooklyn Nets may have received the dagger to their play-in hopes. After losing to the nine-win Detroit Pistons on Thursday, Brooklyn fell 110-99 to the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday. Entering the game, Charlotte owned the league's fourth-worst record (15-48) and longest losing streak (six games).
The demoralizing defeat comes shortly after the Nets announced they shut down Ben Simmons for the season. Brooklyn's highest-paid player appeared in 15 games on the year, making a whopping $2.5 million per contest.
Before Saturday's matchup, Hornets head coach Steve Clifford spoke about Nets fans' frustrations and emphasized the impact of Simmons' unavailability.
“The reality of this is that when you have a guy like Ben who's only playing so many games, people forget that he's on the roster. You're not gonna be nearly the team you can be when you have an All-Star-caliber player making that much of the salary cap and not playing much. It's just the way it is,” Clifford said. “And what happens is when guys are out for the season and they don't play much, it's easy for fans to look at it and forget about it. But you can't make up for that. The cap is the cap.”
Steve Clifford on Ben Simmons:
"You're not gonna be nearly the team you can when you have an All-Star caliber player, making that much of the salary cap, not playing much."
"When guys are out for the season and don't play much, […] you can't make up for that."
🎙️ #LetsFly35 pic.twitter.com/w5M7xe9IZ1
— /r/CharlotteHornets (@HornetsReddit) March 9, 2024
Ben Simmons' constant injury problems hurt Nets
This marks the second straight season a back injury forced Simmons out for the second half of the year. After undergoing surgery on his L-4 and L-5 discs during the 2022 offseason, the three-time All-Star played 42 games last year before being shut down due to a nerve impingement in the right side of his back.
Despite a seven-month rehab process, Simmons played six games to start 2023-24 before suffering an impingement in the left side of his back. He missed three months before returning for nine games and then being shut down.
Nets general manager Sean Marks has drawn heavy criticism for Simmons' disastrous tenure after acquiring the former Philadelphia 76ers star for James Harden at the 2022 trade deadline. Since joining Brooklyn, the former No. 1 pick has appeared in 57 of 181 total games.
Simmons' agent, Bernie Lee, said they are attempting to find non-surgical options that would allow the 27-year-old to continue his career on a permanent basis. The Aussie is entering the final year of his contract next season at $40.3 million.
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