ORLANDO, Fla. — The Brooklyn Nets still have no idea exactly when Ben Simmons he’ll make his season debut as he continues to deal with a back injury, but coach Steve Nash said after Tuesday’s shootaround that he has “extremely high hopes that we’ll see him in the regular season.”
“He’s just getting rehabbed, getting stronger,” Nash said. “We’re still doing that side of things instead of on-court work right now.”
The uncertainty surrounding Simmons’ status is drawing even more attention given that the Nets have just 14 regular-season games left and Simmons, who was acquired at the trade deadline last month from the Philadelphia 76ers, has yet to been authorized to practice. When the back problem arose in the last week of February, Nash thought it was just a soreness related to the fact that Simmons hadn’t played all season while waiting for a trade from Philadelphia, but the problem became more serious in weeks since Simmons has been unable to do anything but individual work. Simmons did not accompany the Nets to Orlando.
“The hardest thing we’ve tried to do is get him involved in everything,” Nash said. “Travel is the only caveat where sometimes you weigh the cost-benefit of him on planes, buses and different beds. When he’s with us, we want him in every meeting, every tour, every video shoot, whatever he wants.” whatever. so he’s close to the group. We’d love for him to travel, be with the team all the time, but we have to weigh that scenario as well.”
Nash said Simmons, who joined the Nets last week in Philadelphia, has been in team meetings when he’s with the group, but acknowledged it will take even longer to find the rhythm once Simmons starts practicing again. .
“I think he gets it pretty well,” Nash said. “Now, his focus has been learning what we’re doing, no, it’s been getting better. We’ve had him around, we want him to learn, but there’s a lot going on when you’re desperately trying to fight your way onto the floor.
“I don’t expect him to be totally on the groove with what we’re doing because part of it is feeling as well; hanging out with your teammates, seeing how he fits in. I think he’ll fit right in with our guys. But some of that stuff is also going out and do it, learning as you go, rather than reading it from the notes.
We would like to give thanks to the writer of this write-up for this incredible web content
Nash expects Simmons to play in the regular season