Should Nets Actively Look to Trade Ben Simmons amid Latest NBA Rumors?
Only eight games into the 2022-23 NBA season, the Brooklyn Nets have already made a major change. Earlier this week, they fired head coach Steve Nash and replaced him with Jacque Vaughn on an interim basis.
That may have the first move of many by the Nets, who are 2-6 and have underperformed in recent years despite loading their roster with stars. Now, they'll likely be looking to make more changes to try to get back to being a championship contender.
In fact, Brooklyn may already be looking to make some trades, according to a report from SNY's Ian Begley.
"You can expect the Nets to pursue trade opportunities ahead of the February deadline," Begley wrote. "In the days before Saturday’s brutal loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Nets had been in cursory talks with one Western Conference team about a deal that would return a veteran shooter, per SNY sources."
Begley also noted that Brooklyn point guard Ben Simmons was a player whose "name came up in the talks." So it's possible that the next big departure from the Nets' organization could be the 26-year-old Simmons.
Even though Simmons has been with Brooklyn since February (when he came over from the Philadelphia 76ers in the James Harden trade), he's still played only six games for the Nets. Simmons sat out the entire 2021-22 season, partially because of a back injury that he was dealing with after joining the Nets.
Simmons played the first six games of the 2022-23 campaign, but he missed Brooklyn's next two contests with a knee injury. So it's possible the LSU product is going to miss even more time moving forward.
Even when Simmons was on the court last month, the three-time All-Star wasn't as productive as he was in his early years in Philadelphia. He averaged only 6.2 points per game, although he still averaged 7.3 assists and 6.5 rebounds.
Simmons shot only 44.1 percent from the field. Over his first four NBA seasons, he never shot worse than 54.5 percent.
It would make a lot of sense for Brooklyn to trade Simmons, especially if it can land a veteran shooter in return, as Begley indicated, because the Nets' core doesn't seem likely to lead them to success.
That's not entirely Simmons' fault, especially because he hasn't been on the court for a ton of the Nets' recent struggles. A lineup that features both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving just doesn't seem likely to work at this point.
There were tons of trade rumors involving both Durant and Irving over the offseason, and yet, both remain on the team this season. So even if Simmons is dealt, Brooklyn will still have more moves it will likely need to make.
But trading Simmons could be a good place to start, especially if there's interest from other teams. Can he return to his early-career form? Possibly. It would likely work out best for both him and the Nets to part ways, though, and it seems that could happen at some point within the next few months.
