.jpg?itok=X0py8Xx7&ssl=1 "Ben Simmons’ post-injury future: Brooklyn Nets contract, salary, options and transfer value")
His first full season Ben Simmons with brooklyn nets had a disappointing ending. The team announced the Friday March 24th that the Australian has been diagnosed with a nerve in his back. The Nets are still determined “the best form of long-term treatment”but the point guard is expected to sit out the rest of the 2022-2023 season and focus on his recovery process.
Now that the franchise has moved past the Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving era, it will have to make some tough decisions during this transition period. How does Simmons fit into the Nets’ future plans?
Or, perhaps the question should be rephrased: Does Simmons fit into those plans?
Ben Simmons’ poor performance this season
After being traded from the 76ers to the Nets in February 2022, Simmons never played that season due to a back injury. The point guard finally made his debut the following season with Brooklyn on October 19th, and unfortunately for the Nets, his poor showing was a harbinger of things to come.
Simmons averaged 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.3 steals in 26.3 minutes per game, all were career lows. The Aussie shot 56.6 percent from the field, but made just 5.6 attempts on the night and sank 43.9 percent from free throws.
The free agency issue was a real punishment for the 2018 Rookie of the Year.
Ben Simmons falls on a layup attempt against Luke Cornett 😬 pic.twitter.com/PV3TO1TrfR
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) January 13, 2023
While there have been some flashes of brilliance — he scored 22 points on 11-for-13 shooting on Nov. 20 — Simmons has never been a consistent player. Nets coach Zach Vaughn acknowledged the challenges of building around such a limited player.
“It will be something we have to work on.Vaughan said in February. “You just have to take a look at what the lineups might be like. If you put another big man next to Ben, then you have to understand what the space is around him. If you put a playmaker next to him, you have to know how he’s going to Ben does without the ball. And if you play small formats, you have to deal with how you’re going to protect the rebound.”
“So the challenges lie ahead,” continuous. “We’re going to take them in the face. We’re going to figure it out. We’ve got the people to do it.”
Combine his play with his health issues, and this season has been a complete disaster for Simmons.
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Ben Simmons’ contract with the Brooklyn Nets
There is some positive news for Ben Simmons. He’ll still get paid as an All-Star even if he never does again.
The Australian signed a five-year, $170 million contract extension with the Sixers in 2019. That deal extends through the 2024-2025 season, though there is no player option on that last year.
| Time | 2022-23 | 2023-24 | 2024-25 | 2025-26 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salary | 35.4 cm | 37.9 cm | 40.3 cm | free agent |
If the Nets could negotiate a buyout at this point, they’d probably cancel the Simmons experiment. However, it is hard to imagine a scenario where the Australian would want to have this conversation. And it is that he has almost 80 million left on his contract.
Only complicating matters further is the recent break between Simmons and Klutch Sports, the agency that has represented him since 2016. The player and the agency ended their relationship due to the fact that the Australian “I needed a fresh start”according ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne.
Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic reported that Simmons is expected to hire Bernie Lee, who represents Jimmy Butler, as his next agent.
Will the Nets make a trade for Ben Simmons?
The Brooklyn Nets are expected to do so “assess what transfer value Simmons could have” after the season, according to Jake Fischer of Yahoo Sports, but sending him elsewhere wouldn’t be an easy task.
Before the market closes, ESPN’s Bobby Marks pointed out that the former 76er “He had no value in the league”. There isn’t a single GM willing to give up assets to acquire Simmons. Not only would it cause problems on the field, but they would also add a huge salary to the team’s payroll.
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And from the Nets’ perspective, it doesn’t make sense to add draft picks to get rid of Benn. After recovering some assets in Durant and Irving’s exits, they can’t afford to throw them away chooses when they could be used to speed up a rebuild.
A breach of contract may be the best option for both parties, but it does not seem to be the most realistic. For now, Simmons and the Nets are stuck together.
The views expressed here do not necessarily represent those of the NBA or its organizations.
