{"id":24827,"date":"2022-07-25T06:53:45","date_gmt":"2022-07-25T06:53:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ben-simmons-has-challenges-ahead-of-nba-return\/"},"modified":"2022-07-25T06:53:45","modified_gmt":"2022-07-25T06:53:45","slug":"ben-simmons-has-challenges-ahead-of-nba-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ben-simmons-has-challenges-ahead-of-nba-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Ben Simmons has &#8216;challenges&#8217; ahead of NBA return"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>As the world waits on the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving drama to unfold, it&#8217;s easy to forget that even if the Nets do move both superstars as requested, they still have one All-Star on their roster. <\/p>\n<p>Ben Simmons isn&#8217;t expected to be going anywhere, though it could take time for him to regain his All-Star form.  One of his teammates admitted as much. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are always challenges.  Foremost, he has missed a whole season.  It is going to be a challenge getting his rhythm back playing basketball,\u201d Seth Curry, Simmons&#8217; teammate with the 76ers and now the Nets, told The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald in Australia.  \u201cI don&#8217;t know specifically what he has been through, mentally \u2014 that&#8217;s hard for me to comment on \u2014 but having that year off, having that time off, of competing and playing five-on-five basketball is going to be just as hard \u2026 just taking some time and getting re-acclimated to playing high-level basketball, but he is a special talent, has all the skills.  The Nets need him on the floor.\u201d <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption>Ben Simmons is preparing for a return to pro basketball after a season-long hiatus.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photo by Elsa\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>The 6-foot-11 Simmons has played in three All-Stars games and at his best was a game-changing talent at both ends of the floor.  For his career, he has averaged 15.9 points, 8.9 rebounds and 7.7 assists.  It&#8217;s just been so long since the No.  1-overall pick of the 2016 NBA Draft last played, dating back to the 2020-21 playoffs.  He then requested a trade from the 76ers, and didn&#8217;t play for them at all.  After coming over to the Nets in a trade deadline blockbuster for James Harden on Feb.  10, the 26-year-old Simmons didn&#8217;t suit up for them either. <\/p>\n<p>He underwent microdiscectomy surgery at Cedars-Sinai Marina Del Rey Hospital in Los Angeles on May 5. A source close to Simmons confirmed to The Post in June that he has started the rehab phase and is on schedule to be ready for training camp. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI have seen him in the facility a couple of times,\u201d Curry said.  \u201cJust like I said, [he\u2019s] been doing a lot of shooting, working, working on his body and being in the gym, so, from everything I have seen, hopefully, he will be out there ready to go come training camp.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>There&#8217;s no telling what the composition of the Nets roster will look like when training camp comes around.  It could include Durant and Irving, or it might not.  The Nets will need Simmons either way. <\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1239623450-e1658705980155.jpg?resize=1024%2C683&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Seth Curry, who played with Ben Simmons on both the 76ers and now the Nets, said the All-Star is making progress on his grand return.\" class=\"wp-image-23183698\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1239623450-e1658705980155.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1536 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1239623450-e1658705980155.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/GettyImages-1239623450-e1658705980155.jpg?quality=75&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\"\/><figcaption>Seth Curry, who played with Ben Simmons on both the 76ers and now the Nets, said the All-Star is making progress on his grand return.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Photo by Mike Stobe\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cObviously, he is an All-Star-caliber player,\u201d Curry said.  \u201cObviously, he is trying to make the most of this offseason, get back healthy physically and mentally.  Like I say, he had a year off, it&#8217;s going to be good for him to get back out on the court and get re-acclimated.  He creates a lot of three-point shots for his teammates.  Obviously, it helps me a lot, to get good shots.  The pick-and-roll game, and the hand-off game, the two-man game \u2026 he is a good guy rolling to the rim and finishing.  Defensively \u2026 he can guard a lot of positions.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>He just hasn&#8217;t done any of those things in quite a while. <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the world waits on the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving drama to unfold, it&#8217;s easy to forget that even if the Nets do move both superstars as requested, they still have one All-Star on their roster. Ben Simmons isn&#8217;t expected to be going anywhere, though it could take time for him to regain his &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ben-simmons-has-challenges-ahead-of-nba-return\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Ben Simmons has &#8216;challenges&#8217; ahead of NBA return<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[900,432,68,10912,307],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":24646,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/atlantic-notes-curry-simmons-nash-mitchell-knicks-celtics\/","url_meta":{"origin":24827,"position":0},"title":"Atlantic Notes: Curry, Simmons, Nash, Mitchell, Knicks, Celtics","date":"July 25, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"nets guard Seth Curry acknowledged that a difficult road likely awaits Ben Simmons next season, as relayed by NetsDaily.com. Curry and Simmons were acquired from Philadelphia in a deal featuring James Harden last season. Simmons didn't play a single game with either club due to personal reasons and a back\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":7886,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nets-trade-of-kevin-durant-to-warriors-would-be-complicated\/","url_meta":{"origin":24827,"position":1},"title":"Nets trade of Kevin Durant to Warriors would be complicated","date":"July 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 As new reports the Warriors are interested in trading for Kevin Durant pick up, so will speculation about Ben Simmons' place on the Nets. A Warriors package posited by ESPN included not just Jonathan Kuminga, Jordan Poole, James Wiseman and a trove of first-round draft picks, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Nets forward Kevin Durant reacts during the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs against the Celtics at Barclays Center.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/BASKETBALL-NBA-BKN-BOS_.1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":18643,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/76ers-james-harden-explains-strategic-decision-to-take-less-money-on-new-deal\/","url_meta":{"origin":24827,"position":2},"title":"76ers&#8217; James Harden explains strategic decision to take less money on new deal","date":"July 19, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! James Harden is focused on winning a championship, which is why he elected to opt-out of his contract and take less money to come back to the Philadelphia 76ers.Harden told The Associated Press in an interview Sunday he wants the 76ers to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4684,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nets-dealing-kevin-durant-kyrie-irving-could-drag-out\/","url_meta":{"origin":24827,"position":3},"title":"Nets&#8217; dealing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving could drag out","date":"July 5, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"It was on July 4, 2016 that Kevin Durant upended the NBA and nearly broke the internet by announcing he was leaving Oklahoma City for Golden State. Six years later, Independence Day came and went on Monday with Durant \u2014 this time with a demand to be traded from the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Kevin Durant, right, and Kyrie Irving","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/BASKETBALL-NBA-BKN-BOS_-2.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/newspress-collage-23183654-1658705715401.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&1658691608&w=1024","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24827"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24827\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}