After missing nearly three months, Ben Simmons finally returned to the court Monday.
But what he gives the Nets the rest of the season remains to be seen.
Brooklyn’s tilt against Utah was Simmons’ first game since November 6, returning from a nerve impingement in his left lower back.
Allowing for rust and absence, the Nets are trying to manage Simmons — and expectations.
“It’ll be good to have him back on the floor, that’s the first thing for him to be around his teammates and compete in a game setting. He’ll be on a minutes restriction. He is not starting,” coach Jacque Vaughn said.
Watch an average of 9 NBA Regular Season games per week LIVE on ESPN, available via Kayo. New to Kayo? Start Your Free Trial Today >
“It’s been a few months since we’ve seen him on the floor and there’ll be some line-ups out here that we literally haven’t played together. So that challenge of continuing to learn about your teammates while you’re trying to win a game, we’ll have some different combinations. Especially with [Dorian Finney-Smith] being out, that changes things. So there’ll be some line-ups that haven’t played together.”
The high-priced and oft-injured Simmons had been limited to just six games this season entering Monday, and 48 total since the Nets acquired him at the 2021-22 trade deadline.
Simmons shines in explosive Nets return | 01:15
After missing the previous 38 straight, Simmons — earning $37.9 million this season and $40.3 next season — practiced with G-League Long Island over the weekend and was cleared Monday afternoon.
Asked if Simmons would need to string together a run of good health before the team could count on him, Vaughn replied: “For me, he’s told me he’s ready to go. Got the sign-off from the performance team … so he’s another basketball player for us. He’s going to try to help us win. I’m going to keep it as simple as that.”
The Nets — entering Monday just 18-27 and sitting outside the play-in spots — could use a healthy Simmons, restrictions or not, especially with Finney-Smith and backup centre Day’Ron Sharpe both out.
“He definitely helps us. It’s good to see him back with the group,” Nic Claxton said. “He brings this extremely high basketball IQ, being able to defend multiple positions … [and] rebounding. So we’re definitely happy to have him back.
“He’s been diligent, he’s been locked-in on his rehab. Of course, nobody wants to go through what he’s going through with his back injury and everything. But he’s happy to be back. I’m just happy to see how everything will look with him back with the group.”
Their presumptive top seven of Simmons, Claxton, Finney-Smith, Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, Cam Thomas and Spencer Dinwiddie have been available just once all season: Opening Night.
They weren’t together against the Jazz, either.
“I’m excited. He’s a big piece of what we want to do,” Johnson said. “I only got to play the first game of the season with him, and even then I was fresh back [from my own hamstring injury], so it wasn’t really necessarily full-go. So I’m really excited to get back on board and re-establish that chemistry and the way we want to play.”
The trio of Simmons, Bridges and Claxton had logged just 4:18 with Dinwiddie and Finney-Smith, and 4:32 alongside Dinwiddie and Johnson entering Monday.
‘I’ll take the fine!’: Ant-man rips refs | 00:26
They’d played just a one minute each with Thomas and Finney-Smith, and alongside Thomas and Johnson.
In essence, they have no idea what these line-ups will actually look like.
They can simply bank on being better with Simmons than without him, a switchable 6-foot-10 defender who can guard multiple positions and was averaging 10.8 rebounds before the injury.
“That’s a huge advantage. He can really guard, and he can also rebound on top of that,” Johnson said. “Everything that we want to do as a team, he fits that mould.”
Claxton is one of the league’s best switching centres.
Following a disastrous attempt to go to drop coverage, the Nets have played better defensively the past month after returning to a switching scheme. Simmons should only help that.
“It just adds more versatility to the group in general, just having another guy who’s used to switching, somebody I’m used to playing with,” Claxton said. “We did some really good things on defensive side of the ball last year, so just being able to continue to add to that.”
This story was originally published in The New York Post and reproduced with permission.