Nets urged to trade scoreless Simmons as Aussie cops another injury blow

The Brooklyn Nets have been urged to contemplate buying and selling Ben Simmons because the gun-shy Australian struggles to attain – and even attempt to rating.

Simmons was introduced in to assist celebrity duo Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant carry a title again to Brooklyn. And whereas Irving and (at present injured) Durant have been at this time named All-Star starters, Simmons has struggled to come back near his former All-Star stage this season.

Most noticeable has been an obvious unwillingness to look to attain – always passing the ball off when in sturdy scoring positions.

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That was the case on Friday when he failed to attain in 20 minutes on the court docket in opposition to the Detroit Pistons, the worst group within the Eastern Conference.

For the second time in as many days, Simmons had zero factors at halftime, although the Nets led 59-58. This time, it was on 0/3 capturing, alongside 5 assists, a rebound, a steal, and two turnovers. One of these three missed pictures was a horribly brief try the left the Aussie wiping his apparently sweaty palms.

He left the court docket halfway via the third quarter after receiving a whack to the face, earlier than the Nets revealed the Australian wouldn’t return to the court docket attributable to left knee soreness.

Simmons ended with seven assists, one rebound, one steal, and three turnovers by the point he left the sector – and 0 factors. His Nets would find yourself shedding 130-122 regardless of Irving draining 40 factors, 7 rebounds and 6 assists. Nic Claxton had 27 factors and 10 rebounds, whereas Edmond Sumner excelled off the bench with 24 factors and 5 rebounds.

Simmons has had a collection of points along with his left knee over time. In 2020, he required surgical procedure for a subluxation of his patella. He missed a number of video games the next yr attributable to soreness within the knee, a problem that compelled him to overlook a number of video games this season. It is the second time this season that Simmons has left the second recreation of a back-to-back attributable to his left leg difficulty.

The Australian was additionally seen warming up in a brace for his again, seemingly indicating he’s nonetheless battling one other space he has beforehand battled. A herniated disc required microdiscectomy surgical procedure in May 2022, with Simmons subsequently revealing his knee points are associated because the knee is compensating for the again.

Simmons entered the sport with a mean of seven.6 factors, 6.7 rebounds, and 6.4 assists – effectively under his profession averages of 15.0, 7.9, and seven.6 respectively.

In his final 5 video games (together with at this time) he has didn’t file a constructive plus-minus, along with his plus-minus for the season simply +54 throughout 37 video games at a mean of 1.46.

And in a outstanding statistic, this season he has taken 127 area objective makes an attempt (3.4 per recreation) alongside 127 private fouls.

But previous to Simmons’ newest poor night time, there have been already requires the Nets to contemplate buying and selling away the misfiring Aussie.

Former NBA veteran Kendrick Perkins instructed ESPN: “If I’m the Brooklyn Nets and the trade deadline is on the way, I might consider trading Ben Simmons. I might consider trading him, for the simple fact that I was watching the game, late in the fourth quarter last night when it got close. He couldn’t play, you couldn’t put him on the floor.

“With the development of (Nic) Claxton, the way he’s been balling out. You can’t play those two together.”

“Seriously. Seth Curry, he’s balling out. Claxton, he’s doing what he do. You’re paying Ben Simmons top dollar to be what? A back-up centre when Kevin Durant is coming back.

“You’re playing him top dollar for like the next three years. I’m not saying do it, I’m saying you might want to consider it!”

Yesterday, at halftime within the Nets loss to Simmons’ previous Philadelphia 76ers teammates, Perkins was much more brutal in his evaluation.

Perkins stated: “While Tyrese Maxey’s been the X-Factor, Ben’s been no factor. I’mma change his name to Ben Perkins, he had the same stat lines as me.

“It’s amazing how (he) goes from an all-NBA player to an enforcer now, that’s what he’s been. Three fouls.

“I’m starting to think he’s afraid of the moment.”

Simmons did reply by posting 12 factors within the third quarter of that recreation – his first 10-plus-point quarter all season – however was despatched to the bench within the fourth quarter.

Nets coach Jacque Vaughn stated after that recreation: “I think overall it’s the message I kind of talked about before the game. We’re going to get every guy, and that’s including Ben [Simmons] to value every possession.”

“We really want to get to a point where your teammate is dependent on you. Dependent on you to do your job every single night and every single possession.”

He added: “Ben showed more ability to play with force in the second half, which paid off, which is what we need, which is great for our team. And then down the stretch, with us being down, I just wanted to space the floor and get more shooting out there. See if we would climb back into the game no matter what the size was or anything.”

Making a Simmons commerce – lower than one yr after his arrival in a commerce for James Harden – is a troublesome proposition. The Australian is contracted via 2024-25, with the 6ft10 participant set to earn $40 million USD in that closing season.