NBA Rumors: Nets remain ‘very hopeful’ Ben Simmons will play this season

NBA Rumors: Brooklyn Nets are still ‘very hopeful’ Ben Simmons will be able to play this season. 

The best-case scenario for the Brooklyn Nets, after an up-and-down first three-quarters of the season, is that they get hot heading into the playoffs and make a deep run, pulling “upset” after “upset.”

However, to be in the best position to do so, the Nets are going to need all hands on deck. That means a healthy Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons. So far, the Nets have had two of those three boxes checked. They’re still waiting on Simmons to make his season debut with the team after they acquired him at the trade deadline.

And while there aren’t many positive indications that he’s even close – in fact, the last update that we got suggests that he was dealt a setback – the Nets are still holding out hope that he could be back this regular season.

One thing that the Nets don’t have the luxury of is time. There are only a few weeks remaining in the regular season, and specifically for the Nets just 14 games left.

Simmons has roughly a month left before the start of the postseason. And if he doesn’t return before the playoffs, it’s hard to see the Nets try to rush him back for that. It would be a rash and an unsmart decision, especially if there are still reservations about his health.

In the end, Simmons returning this season was always somewhat of a pipe dream. Especially when it was reported he was having back issues while working back to a return. When the Nets acquired Simmons, it was always more about the future and not necessarily this season.

Still, that’s a tough sell when you have Durant and Kyrie on the active roster. Maybe it all works out and we do see Simmons at some point before the end of the regular season. At this point, however, that seems more like wishful thinking.