Ben Simmons says he’s healthy and ready to be an even better player than the one they thought they got in the 2022 deal that sent James Harden to Philadelphia. AP Photo by Jessie Alcheh
While many continue to ponder whether the Nets will see Ben Simmons flash his previous All-Star form here in Brooklyn, the enigmatic point guard insists he’s ready to be better than he’s ever been this coming season.
“For me to come back and dominate people will be great,” Simmons told ESPN Andscape last week, revealing that he’s fully recovered from a back injury that sidelined him for the Nets’ run to the playoffs last year.
“I don’t intend to come back the same player I was last [season], because that’s not even close to where I am. I get excited because I’m like, ‘Damn, I would [expletive] on the player I was last year,’” he added.
The Nets will take any facsimile of the player they hoped they’d get back in the 2022 trade-deadline deal that sent James Harden to Philadelphia for Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond and two future first-round picks.
But instead, Simmons has flummoxed Nets fans.
He sat out the remainder of the 2021-22 campaign, watching as Brooklyn was swept out of the opening round of the postseason by Boston.
Last season, Simmons finally made his Nets debut, playing in 42 games, including 33 starts.
But he hardly resembled the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 Draft, 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year or three-time All-Star he was in the City of Brotherly Love.
The 6-foot-10 Australian averaged 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game, safely below his career numbers in each category.
Once the Nets dealt away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in February, Simmons once again became an absentee in the Nets’ lineup. He played just twice after Brooklyn’s twin superstars were sent to Phoenix and Dallas,…
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