So much for the Brooklyn Nets being a great landing spot for Ben Simmons.
Seated at his Barclays Center locker on Oct. 3, the 76ers point guard was basically beaming with excitement before facing his former team in his first preseason game as a Net.
He chatted about how being in Brooklyn would enable him to utilize his strengths as a facilitator. And at that time, it was the popular belief.
No more battling Joel Embiid to be the face of the Sixers. No more being asked to step out of his comfort zone. The belief was that Simmons was set up for greatness playing alongside elite scorers Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
All he needed to do was defend and pass the ball. Durant and Irving would do the rest. That, some thought, would put Brooklyn in a great position to win multiple NBA titles.
But as it turns out, Simmons would have been better off if he didn’t force a trade out of Philadelphia. The grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and Simmons’ fate in Brooklyn is far from what he envisioned.
He’s gone from being a facilitating third star on a title contender to the face of a rebuilding franchise — at least for the immediate future.
After Irving requested a trade last week, the Nets sent him and Markieff Morris to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddle, Dorian Finney-Smith, a 2029 first-round pick, 2027 and 2029 second-rounders, and trade exceptions on Monday.
Early Thursday morning, the Nets agreed to send Durant and T.J. Warren to the Phoenix Suns for former Villanova standout Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder, four first-round picks, and a 2028 pick swap. Brooklyn will receive unprotected picks in 2023, 2025, 2027, and 2029.
After all that has transpired, no one can debate that the Sixers won the multi-player deal headlined by Simmons and Sixers star James Harden.
Embiid and Harden have blossomed into one of the league’s elite tandems. With them leading the way, the Sixers (34-19) are in third place in the Eastern Conference standings, while Simmons and fifth-place Brooklyn (32-22) has a tough road ahead without Durant and Irving.
Now, Simmons is the face of the franchise.
And that might not be a good thing, because he’s been less than advertised this season.
The 6-foot-10, 240 pounder is averaging career lows in points (7.2), rebounds (6.4), assists (6.4) and minutes played (27.3). The three-time All-Star is also shooting a career low 43.9% from the foul line. That has resulted in him being benched in some late-game situations.
Suddenly, this no longer looks like a great situation for a player who has a hesitancy to shoot and confidence issues. And the Sixers will get a glimpse of the Simmons-led Nets when they meet Saturday night in Brooklyn.
That game, which will be Harden’s first back in Brooklyn, just got more interesting.
