After missing five straight games due to left knee soreness, Ben Simmons returned to action on Tuesday for the Nets. However, his first game back wasn’t exactly a huge success, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post, who notes that Simmons had just two points and six assists to go along with four turnovers and twisted his ankle in the second quarter of the loss to Phoenix.
“It’s a little swollen, but I’m happy with an ankle sprain over anything with the knee or back,” Simmons said of his tweaked ankle. “So I’ll take this over anything else.”
Simmons added that his knee soreness is related to the back surgery he underwent last spring and stressed that he still has a ways to go before he’s feeling 100% again.
“Back surgery is not a light thing so it takes time,” he said, per Lewis. “Back surgery, you’re affected everywhere. Your knees. So it’s just something I gotta stay on top of. I’ve been saying it from the start. There’s gonna be ups and downs. … I’m not gonna be the same player I was a few years ago. That’s gonna take time to get back.”
Here’s more on the Nets:
- It may be difficult for the Nets to acquire roster upgrades ahead of Thursday’s trade deadline, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on his latest Hoop Collective podcast. As Windhorst explains, with teams around the NBA hoping that Kevin Durant will become available again, those clubs are reluctant to make a deal with Brooklyn that would help the club strengthen Durant’s supporting cast and would reduce the likelihood of another KD trade request.
- Markieff Morris wasn’t upset about being sent to Dallas along with Kyrie Irving. In fact, he told reporters on Wednesday that he was hoping to be traded along with Irving after Kyrie asked to be dealt, as Tim MacMahon of ESPN relays (via Twitter). “I just wanted somewhere I could have the opportunity to play,” said Morris, who was averaging a career-low 10.6 minutes per game in 27 appearances for the Nets. “I didn’t really play at all this year being in Brooklyn. … I just want to play basketball.”
- In case you missed it, we passed along multiple other Nets-related tidbits earlier today, including details on how much case they sent Sacramento in the Kessler Edwards trade and rumors related to Cam Thomas and Nic Claxton.
Less than 3 teams have enough assets to acquire Durant. Nets want a young star, a talent and draft assets
Celtics rumor is fake-prone.
That’s a laughable suggestion. There are probably only 3 teams in the league that couldn’t trade for KD
there are not 26 teams that could trade for KD and still remain competitive, which is the only scenario where you’d consider trading for KD in the first place
Just trade him. He had a spark when he started but now he’s just GARBAGE.
For what? Who is going to acquire Simmons without either draft compensation, sending back awful contracts, or both?
Toronto, ATL, Chicago to start.
There have been rumors the last few days that Simmons has no value at all and that no team is interested in acquiring him. Which makes sense because even aside from the attitude/dedication issues and shooting yips, he hasn’t been particularly effective at all and still has two years and almost $80 million left on his deal. He’s probably the least desirable player in the league with everything considered.
We’ve been hearing this back surgery nonsense forever now. You know what? If you want people to lower their expectations give back some of your salary. I’ll wait. We don’t put the season on hold so you can recover. Sorry for the scrutiny, playboy.
Why on earth did The Nets make that deal?
There had to be a better offer for Harden out there somewhere.
Bum
It’s understandable that teams wouldn’t want to go out of their way to help the Nets keep Durant but that shouldn’t prevent sellers from making deals with expiring contracts. The Nets should still consider a deal I suggested before Kyrie requested his trade if the Hornets are willing. I proposed Curry, who’s from Charlotte, and Sharpe for Plumlee and Thor. If the Nets need to add an asset, they could use one of the picks they acquired, like a second or a lottery protected first.