Nets’ Ben Simmons ‘as healthy as he’s ever been’ since last season in Philly’: report

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Ben Simmons is healthy.

At least that’s what his camp is saying.

The former three-time NBA All-Star who battled back issues the past two seasons is “as healthy as he’s ever been since his last year” with the Philadelphia 76ers, according to ESPN’s Marc Spears.

Spears, who read a text message from someone close to Simmons live during an ESPN broadcast, delivered the most encouraging news regarding the star, whose season ended due to an ongoing back injury shortly after the All-Star break.

“I would say he’s in the final stage of prep for the season and has passed every benchmark and is healthy as he’s ever been since his last year in Philly,” Spears read from his phone. “Brooklyn has been incredibly supportive, and the plan is for him to be the Nets’ point guard and primary ball handler this coming season. The expectation is he will fully resume his career at the level he was prior to leaving Philadelphia.”

Simmons arrived in Brooklyn as part of the James Harden trade in Feb. 2022 but did not play for the Nets at all in the second half of that season due to a combination of mental health issues and his lower back maintenance. He underwent a microdiscectomy to help address a herniated disk in his lower back last offseason and proceeded to appear in 42 of Brooklyn’s 82 regular-season games, averaging seven points, six rebounds and six assists per game.

The Nets, however, eventually shut Simmons down for the remainder of the season in February after it became clear he was playing at a limited capacity due to his lower back.

The belief, from his camp, now is that Simmons’ back injury may be a thing of the past.

If this is, indeed, the case, and the Nets insert a healthy Simmons into the starting lineup at point guard, Brooklyn immediately becomes one of the league’s top-ranked defensive teams, at least on paper.

A starting lineup featuring Simmons, Mikal Bridges, Nic Claxton, Dorian Finney-Smith and Cam Johnson provides enough length and versatility to switch all positions one through five while keeping the floor spaced with three-point shooters and a lob threat.

Starting Simmons would also move point guard Spencer Dinwiddie to a sixth man role, which may not only be his best fit leading the second unit, but could also benefit third-year reserve scorer Cam Thomas, who is set to see an expanded role with Seth Curry leaving Brooklyn to sign with the Dallas Mavericks.

Back injuries, of course, are tricky — and fickle. After all, Simmons was on the verge of a return during the season he arrived in Brooklyn before setbacks kept him off the court. Simmons also suffered setbacks when he played in both games of a back-to-back. On two occasions, the overload affected his knee, not his back, though Simmons said the parts are related.

What’s clear is that a healthy Simmons drastically raises Brooklyn’s ceiling. He is a perennial All-NBA Defensive Team honoree who doubles as one of the best playmakers in basketball when he has the ball in the open court.

With aggressive three-point shooters like Bridges, Johnson, Finney-Smith, Dinwiddie, Thomas and Royce O’Neale, the setup works in Simmons’ favor.

So long as his back can handle the load.

Simmons averaged about 16.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and eight assists per game in two of his final three seasons in Philadelphia and led the league in steals per game (2.1) in the 2019-20 season. The 27-year-old forward from Australia is the highest-paid player on the Nets’ payroll, set to earn $78 million over the next two seasons.

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