Brooklyn Nets: Should Ben Simmons play at all this season?

Would it be worth it for Ben Simmons to try to play this season for the Brooklyn Nets?

Entering the final week of the regular season, Ben Simmons still has yet to make his season debut but is slowly inching toward that possibility. As Nets head coach Steve Nash put it, if he does make a return at all this season, it will come at some point in the playoffs – not in the Play-In Tournament.

Nash said that Simmons is not even running yet despite a report over the weekend that indicated he was about to ramp up his rehabilitation process in an attempt to return at some point this season.

From all indications, it still seems outlandish to suggest that Simmons is anywhere near close to making his return to the floor.

If that is indeed the case, is it even in the best interest of Simmons to return at all this season? It’s tough to say.

For the Nets in the short term, there’s no question that they’d be better off with Simmons in the lineup. But long-term, they kind of need Simmons to be fully healthy and not run into any more setbacks.

The same could be said for Simmons. He’s still only 25 years old and has his entire career still in front of him. I’m not sure what possible repercussions could arise should he rush back and suffer a setback, but I’m pretty sure it’s not in his best interest of himself in the long run.

There are one of two things here: either the Nets and Simmons believe that this team could seriously win a championship this season or everything that has been public is simply lip service and everyone knows Simmons won’t play this season but doesn’t want that out there.

It’s looking more and more foolish for the Nets and Simmons to rush their process at this point in the season. The Nets should just shut Simmons down and let him rehab at a comfortable pace (if that isn’t already so) and let him make his debut for the team next season.