The Brooklyn Nets are currently the No. 10 seed in the Eastern Conference, locked into the play-in tournament but currently sitting at the bottom of the barrel.
Brooklyn is currently facing two elimination games just to reach the East’s No. 8 seed, and while the team could conceivably improve its standing it seems unlikely – the Nets are 5-5 in their last 10 games and remain underwhelming as a team.
And on Monday afternoon the team got even more rough news on the 25-year-old All-Star they traded for mid-season with the hopes of him helping them on a deep playoff run this spring.
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Nets head coach Steve Nash ruled former Sixer Ben Simmons out for the remainder of the regular season and the play-in tournament, meaning Simmons won’t play until at least April 16, which is 65 days after Simmons was traded to Brooklyn for James Harden:
Jeez.
The Nets announced in March that Simmons suffered a herniated disk in his back, an explanation for his delayed return to the court. Brooklyn’s assumption was that Simmons would be able to resume play shortly after the Nets faced the Sixers in early March; by the time the play-in tournament rolls around, the target date will have been missed by a month.
Most Sixers fans still hold a measure of animosity towards Simmons for the way he forced his way out of Philadelphia and generally the way he handled the situation – not to the mention the recent grievance he filed against the team, which is on its face frivolous and absurd – but it’s also starting to reach “I almost feel bad for the guy” territory. Back pain stinks, he probably just wants to play at this point, and you know the mounting pressure is probably getting to him.
Simmons is 25, and this trade wasn’t just about 2022 for the Nets. Simmons will be there for a while. But guess who’s not getting younger: Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
Durant is still balling out of his mind, dropping 55 points (albeit in a losing effort) and Irving is still a virtuoso. But Durant turns 34 before next season begins and Irving just recently hit 30. Their championship window is not some big, no-end-in-sight situation! The goal was to make some kind of run this year, and without Simmons that simply isn’t happening.
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What a mess.
While the Sixers’ ceiling this year might not be winning the title, they’re certainly within their rights to think an Eastern Conference Finals run is doable. The Nets, meanwhile, will be thrilled to survive the play-in tournament before likely getting smoked in the first round – and I can’t imagine, given the way things have gone, that Simmons will play in that series.
Which means, as Brooklyn enters training camp in September 2022, Simmons’ most recent game will have been in June 2021.
Insane.
