NBA Rumors: Ben Simmons is healthy and ready for a huge bounce-back season.
In the last year, there hasn’t been a team that has undergone more changes on their roster than the Brooklyn Nets. Over the course of the last 12 months, the Nets traded both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving as they pivoted strong with those two in-season trades.
But even after trading two superstars, the Nets aren’t in a terrible of a spot as you would’ve thought they would be in. Instead, the Nets are about to enter the 2023-24 season as a potential dark horse threat in the East.
A big part of that is Mikal Bridges and the rest of the team’s supporting cast. One wildcard for the team heading into the season is Ben Simmons. With how he’s played recently and with how much he’s been injured, there isn’t much of an expectation with him.
However, that could change soon. According to a recent report, there’s a belief that Simmons is close to 100 percent healthy.
Ben Simmons can raise the Brooklyn Nets’ season if he’s healthy
For as talented as the Nets are on paper, there’s no question that Simmons could further raise the team’s ceiling heading into 2023-34 if he’s healthy. When Simmons was at the top of his game, there were few better two-way players at the point guard position.
He hasn’t been the same since he ran into his injury issues. But if Simmons is in a right place mentally and physically, it’ll be interesting to see just how good he can be for the team. It’s been a really long time since Simmons has played like the star-level talent he was when he entered the league.
However, at just 27 years old, it would be odd to say that he no longer has the potential to get back to that form. And if Simmons can get back to that form, the Nets will be that much better for it. And it will make life easier for Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson.
Even without expecting much from Simmons heading into the season, the Nets are already being considered a dangerous team in the Eastern Conference. If Simmons can be even just 80 percent the player he was before the injuries started stacking up, Brooklyn could emerge as one of the most intriguing teams heading into the start of the season.