Simmons Has Role As Nets’ Spark Off The Bench, Not As Starter
When I ponder how the Nets have to navigate around Ben Simmons in the final season of his max contract, it makes me think back to the old Rodney Dangerfield joke about kids and their father’s advanced age. “What are we gonna do about Pop?”, they wondered as the father sat within hearing range.
On one hand, there is a respect for Simmons and his hard work in his attempt to come back from debilitating back injuries that required two surgeries and regain the form that made him a three-time NBA All-Star in Philadelphia. Then again, he isn’t that player at this juncture of his recovery, and his limitations, which have been dissected ad nauseum in this space, are troublesome for a coaching staff that wants to win games this season despite the healthy segment of the fan base who wish they wouldn’t.
Jordi Fernandez, Brooklyn’s rookie Head Coach, started Simmons at center in his first six appearances this season and pretty much alternated him with Nic Claxton as both players were subject to return-from-injury management and minutes limits. However, when Claxton was ready to extend his court time, Fernandez reversed the order. For Brooklyn’s games at Boston on Friday and New Orleans on Monday (Simmons sat out Saturday’s back-to-back at Cleveland), it was Claxton in the starting five and Simmons coming off the bench.
This could be Fernandez’s first in-house test, since Simmons has always been known as a prideful player who has expressed a few times his preference for starting at point guard, or at least as a co-point guard with Dennis Schroder. Sitting out during crunch time (he’s played 1.4 minutes total over the six games this season that were within a five-point margin during the final five minutes, per NBA.com) also might be a blow to his ego.
During a crucial challenge timeout in the closing seconds of Brooklyn’s thrilling 107-105 victory over the injury-ravaged Pelicans, the YES Network camera panned to the Nets’ bench where Simmons was a noticeable distance away from the huddle, near injured forward Dorian Finney-Smith. You could hear Fernandez scream, “Ben!” to get him to pay attention because he was needed to make the inbounds pass to Schroder into the backcourt that ran out the clock. To me, it seemed like he had mentally checked out from the rest of his teammates. Not a good look.
Still, it was obvious that the tenor of Monday’s contest changed the instant Simmons entered it midway through the first quarter. The Nets, perhaps dragging a bit from their third hard-fought road game in four nights, got the spark they needed to turn a 10-5 deficit into a four-point lead by quarter’s end.
Simmons’ dishing was dazzling, finding cutters for layups/dunks and skipping passes for open corner three-pointers. In the first half, he registered ten assists without a turnover while adding four points and three rebounds. All told, he was responsible for 30 of Brooklyn’s 54 first-half points despite playing only 12:22 of the 24 minutes, per YES Network studio host Chris Shearn. According to NBA.com, the Nets even outscored the Pels, 14-6, in the nearly four minutes Simmons played with fellow non-shooter Claxton, usually a recipe for disaster.
The second half, though, was a different story, as it’s been for much of the season. Simmons tends to lose his aggressiveness as the games proceed, except when deciding to go for crazy passes. Of his three turnovers after Monday’s intermission, two came on Nets fast break opportunities where Simmons unnecessarily went all Fancy Dan. The Pelicans were more than grateful to go the other way for transition buckets. Momentum killers.
Defensively, can Simmons move to a rebound that isn’t at arm’s length? The Nets’ rebounding is almost always worse when he’s on the court and on Monday, he didn’t have the excuse of having to play as the sole big, as either Claxton or Noah Clowney always shared the court during his minutes. In the first quarter, you could see New Orleans backup center Daniel Theis looking incredulous after Simmons didn’t deign grab a ball that bounced to the side. At least Simmons made up for that one with a good read to intercept a pass to end the possession.
Simmons’ contest efforts have also been inconsistent, to put it mildly. As a fan who was hoping Brooklyn would pull off the upset in Boston on Friday, I was apoplectic when he just stood in the paint with his arms down and allowed Al Horford to get five easy points in the short time they were matched up.
No wonder Fernandez doesn’t trust him when games are on the line.
I don’t know whether the Nets as an organization really care what Simmons thinks about how he’s being used, as they can take solace in that the player and his agent have been all flowery when talking about how accommodating they’ve been during these trying years since Philadelphia traded him here in the February 2022 James Harden blockbuster. Counting the approximately $40.3 million he’s due for 2024-25, Simmons will have gotten paid over $113.6 million in the three seasons in which he’s played a grand total of 65 games to date. If he isn’t traded by the February 8 deadline, I would think he’d be in line for a buyout so he can have the opportunity to find a fit with a playoff contender.
No one, especially Fernandez, should feel bad if it’s ultimately decided he’s no longer starter material. It happens to all of us at some point.