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Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said Tuesday that Simmons (back, knee) is out for the season but isn't expected to require any surgeries this summer, Nick Friedell of ESPN.com reports. "Ben will not be joining us the rest of the year and through the playoffs," Vaughn said after Tuesday's practice. "After consulting with our doctors, multiple specialists, he's just going to begin a rehab program. Our doctors and the specialists feel and think that he'll have a full recovery so that starts now."
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Simmons last played for the Nets in their final game before the All-Star break Feb. 15, with his absence initially being attributed to a sore left knee for which he required a platelet-rich plasma injection. The Nets then announced over the past weekend that Simmons is dealing with a nerve impingement in his back, though the team hasn't revealed whether the issue is related to the disc herniation that he addressed with a surgery last May. Whatever the case, Simmons appears set to avoid another surgery for now, and though the early expectation is that he'll be at full health for training camp in the fall, how he fits in Brooklyn's plans heading into 2023-24 is difficult to pin down. Before being shut down, Simmons was in the midst of the worst season of his career, as he shot just 43.9 percent from the free-throw line and averaged 6.9 points to go with 6.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.3 steals in 26.3 minutes over 42 appearances (33 starts). With Mikal Bridges having since emerged as the face of the franchise following the Nets' roster overhaul at the trade deadline, Simmons -- who is under contract through 2024-25 and is owed roughly $78 million -- may be relegated to a supporting role once healthy.
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