Shams: Nets Hopeful Ben Simmons Returns from Knee Injury in 'Next Week or So'

Ben Simmons hasn't played since before the All-Star break, but the Brooklyn Nets are reportedly hopeful he will return in the near future.

"There's no plans for the Nets to shut him down, from what I'm told," Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium said Wednesday on FanDuel TV. "The hope is that he's back in the near future, possibly in the next week or so. But as we've known, it's been a moving target with Ben Simmons all season."

The LSU product had fluid drained from his left knee and received a platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection before the All-Star break, but the knee still bothered him after a couple of ensuing practices, and the Nets put him on a strengthening program last week.

"We're going to reevaluate it in about a week and see where I'm at," Simmons said. "There's some targets I need to hit and get to."

Injuries are nothing new for the 26-year-old, who missed his rookie campaign in 2016-17 with a foot injury and missed all of last season in part because of a back injury.

He is the most high-profile name on the Nets roster after they traded Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant, although he is far from the same player he was as a three-time All-Star and two-time All-Defensive selection with the Philadelphia 76ers from 2018 to 2021.

Injuries and a lack of scoring touch have prevented Simmons from living up to expectations as the No. 1 overall pick of the 2016 NBA draft. He is averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.3 steals per game this season.

The new-look Nets are 34-27 and in sixth place in the Eastern Conference.

While their ceiling is much lower without the star power of Durant and Irving, they could still use Simmons' defense and facilitating ability alongside Mikal Bridges, Nic Claxton, Spencer Dinwiddie and Cameron Johnson.

It appears they will have to wait a bit longer for that to happen.