According to a recent report from Woj, Nets guard Simmons will return for next Monday's game against the Jazz, and he will travel to the Nets for practice this weekend.
Simmons has not played since Nov. 6 this season due to a crushed back nerve. He played only six games for the Nets this season, averaging 6.5 points, 10.8 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game while shooting 52.8% from the field. His 6.5 points was a career low in a single season, but his 10.8 rebounds were a career high.
Simmons has played in just 48 games for the team since being traded to the Nets by the 76ers in 2022-23 and has never played more than 60 games in a single season since 2019-20.
As the top pick in the 2016 draft, he was selected by the 76ers, and he showed absolute talent when he entered the league, especially rebounding, defense, and passing, which gradually grew to the top level of the league. During his time with the 76ers, he was an All-Star three times, a first-team All-Defensive team twice, and won honors such as Rookie of the Year.
However, due to injuries, Simmons' various statistics gradually began to decline, and in the 76ers, he and Embiid intensified the battle for the boss, and the contradictions with the team were irreconcilable, and finally Morey sent him to the Nets in order to get Harden.
Simmons' five-year, $170 million contract will not expire until 2025, and his contract has been a representative of garbage contracts in recent years, and now he has been injured for more than 2 months, I wonder if this comeback can gradually return to the peak state of the 76ers? I don't know if I can take off the hat of the garbage contract? I don't know if I can lead the Nets out of the quagmire?
Objectively speaking, as a point guard, you don't have the ability to shoot three-pointers, and you're afraid of shooting, which is deadly. But Simmons is only 27 years old, has a height of 2.08 meters, he can defend five positions on the court, he can play as a playmaker even if he doesn't play point guard, and he has never lost six rebounds and assists in a single season in his career.
Maybe it's a little difficult to see Simmons at the top, but when this contract expires and another contract is signed at the right price, Simmons definitely has no shortage of suitors.
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