Give Ben Simmons credit. He at least seems to understand how bad he looks. How else should we interpret Monday’s report that the Sixers’ onetime franchise cornerstone plans to accompany his new teammates on their scheduled trip to the Wells Fargo Center this Thursday?
To be clear, Simmons won’t be in uniform. The Nets obviously understood the fragile psyche of their newest member well enough to know that it was never going to be a good idea to have him suit up in Philly. But he will be on the bench, in full view of the teammates he jilted and the coach he disrespected and the fans who can’t wait to give him a piece of their mind. He won’t be playing, but he will be present. At least, that’s the plan at the current moment, according to The Athletic.
Of course, it remains to be seen if the plan actually comes to fruition. Simmons spent seven months running away from the people he embarrassed himself in front of last postseason. It’s hard to believe that he’s turned enough of a corner to suddenly put himself in the same room with them. Really, what’s another couple of days? If he does make the trip, good for him. It will be the first step on the long road he must travel in order to reclaim his dignity. A small step, yes, but a step nonetheless.
This is how low the expectations for Simmons have fallen. A year ago, he was preparing to make his third straight All-Star appearance, in the midst of a season that would end with him garnering serious consideration for the NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award. Now, he can’t even think about returning to the court until the potential of playing in Philly has passed. The Nets are fighting for a playoff berth, in desperate need of all the help they can get. Yet Simmons remains as he has all season, marching to the beat of his own drum.
Officially, the matter is one of back stiffness. Nets general manager Sean Marks recently said that there is no timetable for Simmons to return. But don’t be surprised if, after Thursday, a timetable magically emerges.
“He’s been rehabbing this last sort of week to 10 days, and then now he’ll progress throughout this week with some individual workout,” Marks said late last week. “Hopefully, by the end of the next week, he’s getting more into the team environment, and then we can really ramp up and start him getting into game shape.”
From there, the Nets will have to hope that a month is enough time for Simmons to steel himself for a potential first-round playoff series against the Sixers. After Sunday’s loss to the Celtics, Brooklyn is 32-33 and looking increasingly likely to be participating in the NBA’s two play-in games. The winner of those games will face the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the first round. The Sixers are currently tied with the Bucks for that second seed, three games behind the conference-leading Heat.
A Sixers-Nets first-round matchup could make for some uncommon playoff drama. Then again, that depends on Simmons. Despite the loss on Sunday, the Nets showed why any team that draws them in the first round might end up ruing its luck. Sub Simmons in for Bruce Brown or Seth Curry and maybe Jayson Tatum goes off for something less than 54 points. Maybe the Nets enter the fourth quarter with something more than a one-point lead. Maybe that lead does not evaporate. As dysfunctional as Brooklyn has looked this season, plenty of potential remains.
The biggest reason to bet against the Nets is that Simmons continues to show us who he really is. A few weeks ago, after the trade that sent him to Brooklyn alongside Curry and Andre Drummond, Simmons sounded adamant that he wanted to play against his former team. You’d expect any competitor to say the same thing. Except, you’d also expect him to mean it.
The way things stand now, it’s hard to imagine the Nets getting anything more than the poor facsimile of an NBA player that the Sixers got at the end of last year’s conference semifinals loss to the Hawks. Simmons isn’t just a player who crumbles on a big stage. He’s a player who’d rather avoid it.
