Ben Simmons To Miss At Least Two Weeks
Sixers star Ben Simmons has been diagnosed with nerve impingement in his lower back and will be re-evaluated in about two weeks, sources tells Shams Charania of The Athletic (Twitter link).
According to Charania (via Twitter), Simmons, who consulted with multiple in-house and external specialists, will undergo daily treatment and rehab. Although Simmons will be re-evaluated in two weeks, the team isn’t expecting him to be ready to return by that point, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski (via Twitter). The two-week mark is more of an initial benchmark date than a target return date, Woj adds (via Twitter).
Simmons aggravated the injury during Saturday’s loss in Milwaukee and sat out on Monday vs. Atlanta. A two-week absence would cost Simmons at least six more games, including road showdowns with the Clippers and Lakers, and it sounds like he’ll remain on the shelf for even longer than that.
With Simmons out, the Sixers figure to lean more heavily on Alec Burks, Josh Richardson, and Shake Milton when it comes to ball-handling duties. Backup point guard Raul Neto should also move up on the depth chart, though he didn’t play at all on Monday. Philadelphia could also explore the buyout market for another ball-handler, but the club would have to waive a player to make room on its 15-man roster.
The 76ers are currently in the midst of a race for home-court advantage in the first round of the postseason. At 36-22, they hold the No. 5 seed in the East, just a half-game back of the 36-21 Heat.
Eastern Notes: Simmons, Johnson, TLC, Bacon
It remains unclear how long Ben Simmons‘ back injury will sideline him but it’s not a day-to-day thing, Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN tweets. The Sixers star departed early in the team’s matchup with Milwaukee on Saturday when his back flared up.
Simmons is still undergoing treatment and evaluation and a course of action will be decided upon soon, Wojnarowski adds. Sixers head coach Brett Brown will use a committee approach at point guard in Simmons’ absence, Tim Bontemps of ESPN tweets.
We have more from around the Eastern Conference:
- The Cavaliers were interested in former NBA coach Avery Johnson prior to hiring John Beilein last spring, Chris Crouse of Heavy.com reports. Johnson, the former head coach of the Mavericks and Nets, most recently coached the University of Alabama. Cleveland’s interest in Johnson dated back to the 2018 offseason but the Cavs are now committed to J.B. Bickerstaff, who replaced Beilein after the All-Star break.
- Swingman Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot could be the Nets’ latest reclamation project, Brian Lewis of the New York Post writes. D’Angelo Russell, Spencer Dinwiddie and Joe Harris blossomed in the organization and Luwawu-Cabarrot could join that list. After signing him to a multi-year contract, they’re looking for him to be a sparkplug off the bench. “They gave me that role and I embrace it: I love it,” Luwawu-Cabarrot told Lewis. “I love. to go out there and compete and play super-hard.”
- Dwayne Bacon may be shuttling between the Hornets and their Greensboro G League affiliate quite a bit, Rick Bonnell of the Charlotte Observer tweets. The club wants him to get more reps but will need him at times for depth at the NBA level, according to coach James Borrego. Bacon, a third-year guard, is averaging 5.7 PPG in 17.6 MPG over 39 games with Charlotte this season, including 11 starts.
Atlantic Notes: Allen, Langford, Knicks, Sixers
Nets starting center Jarrett Allen has accepted his recent benching in fourth quarters, according to Brian Lewis of the New York Post. Coach Kenny Atkinson has favored $40MM backup center DeAndre Jordan to close out games.
“You get the feeling of what’s going to happen when you hit around the eight-minute mark, whether you’re going to go in or not,” Allen told Lewis. “If they’re vibing then go ahead and let them vibe, let them go out and win it. So I’m not tripping over that.”
There’s more out of the Atlantic Division:
- Rookie Celtics shooting guard Romeo Langford has closed out three Boston victories thus far in February as a defensive stopper, per Adam Himmelsbach of the Boston Globe. The 6’4″ wing out of Indiana, the No. 14 pick in the 2019 lottery, appreciates the faith that coach Brad Stevens has in Langford’s growing abilities on that side of the ball. “It’s good that (Stevens) already, like, trusts me,” Langord said. “So I’ve just got to go out there and deliver.”
- As the Knicks continue to rework their public perception under newly-hired brand consultant Steve Stoute, they may try to improve relations with past New York heroes, according to Steve Popper of Newsday. “As a New York fan, as a friend of Charles Oakley, as somebody a part of the Knicks organization, of course, I would love to see that subsided and bring that back,” Stoute mentioned in an appearance on ESPN’s First Take.
- The Sixers have underperformed relative to preseason expectations this year, but the dynamic between All-Stars Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons may not be the root of the issue, per ESPN’s Kirk Goldsberry. Goldsberry points to their club’s unending roster churn over the years and a lack of sharpshooting depth as the prime culprits. That said, at 35-22, the Sixers sit just 1.5 games behind the 36-20 Heat in competing for a top-four Eastern Conference playoff seed.
Ben Simmons To Have MRI On Back
Sixers star Ben Simmons left Saturday’s game after five minutes with a sore back and will undergo an MRI today to determine the nature of the problem, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski. League sources tell Woj there is “some level of concern” about the situation.
Simmons sat out Thursday with lower back pain, then aggravated the injury midway through the first quarter last night. He had an X-ray after leaving the game, and sources said he was “emotional” as he walked out of the X-ray room.
Losing Simmons for an extended stretch would be a huge setback for the Sixers as they fight for home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs. Philadelphia is 35-22 after Saturday’s loss in Milwaukee, a game-and-a-half behind fourth-place Miami.
Simmons is averaging 16.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 8.3 assists through 54 games. He also leads the NBA in steals at 2.1 per night.
Atlantic Notes: Burks, Wright, Knicks, Simmons
Sixers head coach Brett Brown explained his plan for Alec Burks, who made his first real impact for Philadelphia on Thursday night against the Nets.
“I’m looking at him is sort of instant offense type off the bench he can be given the ball can be put in pick-and-rolls,” Brown said (via Heavy.com). “I like him more probably in the middle of the floor with the pick and roll than the sideline with the pick-and-roll I think that he can be a primary ball carrier for a while.”
Burks, who came to the Sixers along with Glenn Robinson III at the trade deadline, has spent 44 minutes on the court so far in his Sixers’ career.
Here’s more from the Atlantic Division:
- Villanova head coach Jay Wright simply isn’t interested in the Knicks‘ coaching job, as Joe Juliano of the Philadelphia Inquirer relays (Twitter link). “I haven’t talked to the Knicks, I’m not going to the Knicks. It’s crazy,” Wright said.
- Ben Simmons is probable for the Sixers‘ matchup with Milwaukee on Saturday night, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer tweets. Simmons missed Thursday’s contest against Brooklyn with back tightness.
- Zach Braziller of the New York Post details how interim coach Mike Miller is handling the situation with the Knicks. “If we help these guys and we continue to grow and get better, then we’ve done our job,” Miller said. “All I’m concerned about is bringing value to it and helping these guys. As simple as it sounds, I did that for six years as a D-League [and] G-League coach and I felt good at the end of every season. That’s the direction that I take.”
International Notes: Thybulle, Liggins, Patterson, Smith
Ben Simmons, who spoke in November about wanting to play for Australia in the 2020 Olympics under Sixers head coach Brett Brown, is looking to bring one of his NBA teammates with him. As Olgun Uluc of Fox Sports Australia details, Simmons said over the weekend that he’s confident rookie swingman Matisse Thybulle will play for the Boomers this summer in Tokyo.
Thybulle, the Sixers’ first-round pick last June, is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Australia. He has yet to make a decision regarding his international status, but playing for Australia would create a much clearer path to being a part of the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
“I can’t say I’ve put too much thought into which one I’d like to go to, which (opportunity) I’d like to take,” the Sixers rookie said last week, per Uluc. “But I think this season is going to be a good opportunity to showcase myself and figure out what opportunities I have at the end of the season.”
Here are a few more notes from around the basketball world:
- NBA journeyman DeAndre Liggins, who suited up for seven different teams over the course of five NBA seasons, is joining Panionios B.C. in Greece, according to an Instagram post from agent Vassilis Kouros (hat tip to Sportando). Liggins last appeared in the Association in 2017/18, when he appeared in 58 total games for Milwaukee and New Orleans.
- Veteran swingman Lamar Patterson, who appeared in 40 NBA games for Atlanta between 2015-17, is continuing his professional career in Puerto Rico with Piratas de Quebradillas, the team announced on Sunday (hat tip to Sportando). This will be Patterson’s second stint with a Puerto Rican club.
- Russ Smith, a second-round pick out of Louisville in 2014, will also play in Puerto Rico, having signed with Los Cariduros de Fajardo (hat tip to Sportando). The 28-year-old guard appeared in 27 NBA games from 2014-16 for New Orleans and Memphis.
Embiid On Perceived Issues With Simmons: “It’s B.S.”
As the Sixers have struggled to maintain offensive consistency this season, the dynamic between Philadelphia’s top two players, Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons has received some scrutiny.
During NBA All-Star media day on Saturday, Embiid addressed the chatter that he and Simmons struggle to co-exist.
“I think it’s B.S. because when you look at the last couple years, the last two years we’ve been playing together, it was not a problem,” Embiid said, via Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). “The issue is only a problem because at times our offense has struggled. I think it’s definitely going to be better after the All-Star break.”
Entering the All-Star break, the Sixers wield a 34-21 record, good for fifth place in the Eastern Conference. Simmons and Embiid, meanwhile, are enjoying typically strong individual seasons.
Embiid, now a three-time All-Star, is averaging 22.9 PPG and 11.9 RPG through 39 contests. Both numbers are down from last season, however, as he has battled some injuries. As for Simmons, he’s averaging 16.9 PPG, 8.3 APG, 7.9 RPG and an NBA-best 2.2 SPG. While the rotation for Philadelphia needs to find consistency, Simmons insists that coexisting alongside Embiid is not an issue.
“It takes time, not everything is supposed to be perfect. We’re two different people trying to figure it out,” Simmons said during his media session (via Mark Media of USA Today). “I love playing with Joel, I think he’s an amazing talent and I respect his game. I know he feels the same way about me so as long as we continue to strive and go the right way, we’ll be fine.”
Atlantic Notes: Sixers, Gasol, Raptors, Nets, C’s
As Sixers general manager Elton Brand weighs possible trade scenarios this week, the final pre-deadline look he got at his roster came on Monday, when Philadelphia was run off the court by Miami in a 137-106 blowout. The Heat’s dominant win extended the 76ers’ losing streak to three games and drew some criticism from All-Star guard Ben Simmons.
“We were soft,” Simmons said of the Sixers, per ESPN’s Cameron Wolfe. “… The physicality side of things, we gotta step that up. That comes with experience, also just comes with personality. Don’t get bullied.”
While Simmons’ comments likely won’t have any direct impact on what Brand does at the deadline, Wolfe points out that the former No. 1 pick also called the Sixers “soft” last January. The club’s deal for Tobias Harris came a few weeks later.
This time around, the Sixers aren’t as well-equipped to make a blockbuster trade, so a move around the edges – possibly for a shooter – is more realistic. For the most part, it’ll be up to the current group to get out of its latest slump, which has dropped Philadelphia’s road record to 9-18 for the season.
Here’s more from around the Atlantic:
- It sounds like Raptors center Marc Gasol, who is dealing with a hamstring injury, will likely be sidelined through the All-Star break, tweets Michael Grange of Sportsnet.ca. Gasol’s hamstring isn’t viewed as a serious issue, but the club wants to be cautious.
- There are several reasons why the Raptors are unlikely to make a major trade at this season’s deadline, including the way their roster is constructed and their intrigue with the pieces they already have, writes Josh Lewenberg of TSN.ca.
- The Nets also look like a long shot to make a splash on the trade market this week, according to Brian Lewis of The New York Post. Everything that Lewis is hearing from team and league sources points toward Brooklyn doing something relatively minor if the team makes a move at all. Rodions Kurucs, Dzanan Musa, Theo Pinson, and Wilson Chandler are among the Nets’ trade candidates, in Lewis’ view.
- The Celtics‘ trade deadline plans could be affected to some extent by what they expect Gordon Hayward to do with his $34MM player option this summer, says Steve Bulpett of The Boston Herald. Boston has a few different paths this offseason depending on whether Hayward opts in, leaves in free agency, or signs a new long-term deal with the C’s. As Bulpett relays, the veteran forward isn’t ready to make a decision on that option. “I haven’t thought about it at all,” Hayward said.
Eastern Notes: Simmons, Parker, Magic
The Sixers could reduce Ben Simmons‘ role as a primary ball-handler, Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer writes.
“That needs to be continued to be grown,” coach Brett Brown said of the primary ball-handling role. “It will mean. It will mean. I’m not saying, ‘It may mean.’ I’m saying it will mean that he’s not the primary ball-handler when you put him in those situations …
“So really, it’s a goal and sort of the growth of Ben to put him in all these environments where he’s really good at and can impact the game at.”
Here’s more from around the Eastern Conference:
- With the Sixers in action against Atlanta tonight, I examined which Hawks players Philadelphia should have interest in trading for. Jabari Parker might be the best fit, as the 76ers could use another scorer off the bench.
- Orlando’s grip on a playoff spot is slipping and Josh Robbins of the Orlando Sentinel takes a look at what strategy the Magic should take heading to the trade deadline. The team could use another wing if it intends on being a buyer at the deadline.
- Should the Hornets trade Malik Monk? Rick Bonnell of The Charlotte Observer gives his take on the former No. 11 pick.
Sixers Notes: Young, Embiid, Smith
Thaddeus Young may make sense as a trade target for the Sixers, as I wrote for Heavy.com. Young, who is in the first year of a three-year contract with Chicago, would give coach Brett Brown another option to stagger the frontcourt minutes, which would ultimately allow Joel Embiid and Al Horford to remain fresh.
Here’s more from Philadelphia:
- Joel Embiid will start vs. the Warriors after seeing a hand specialist during pregame, Derek Bodner of The Athletic reports (Twitter link). Embiid has missed the past nine games for the Sixers and the team went 6-3 in his absence.
- Zhaire Smith is available to play for the Sixers tonight, per Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). Smith injured his ankle on Saturday after playing just three minutes in his season debut.
- Brett Brown said he can’t imagine Ben Simmons not making his second straight All-Star appearance, as Pompey relays on Twitter. Brown also mentioned Tobias Harris as a candidate.