Nets' Ben Simmons Not Yet Participating in 5-on-5 Amid Back Injury Rehab, GM Says

The Brooklyn Nets have no intention of rushing the return of Ben Simmons.

The point guard has not played since February and has dealt with numerous injuries in his career. Given this, Nets general manager Sean Marks is not looking to risk anything with his star player.

"We've got time," Marks said. (via Stefan Bondy of The New York Daily News) "This is not something where we're going to rush him back in to play 5-on-5 in the next couple weeks. But he's progressing — he'll be ready to go hopefully very, very soon."

Simmons played 42 games for the Nets in 2022-23, averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists.

These numbers don't speak to the caliber of player that Simmons is. The 2016 No. 1 pick has career averages of 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists and is known as a staunch defender, as he led the NBA in steals in 2019-20 and has two all-defensive nods proving that.

He was the big fish for Brooklyn in the James Harden trade, but has barely made an impact on the floor. He has two years remaining on his contract, and is set to bring in $37.8 million in 2023-24, so maximizing his production should be the main priority for Marks and the Nets.

Still, the player he historically has been is what the team is looking for, and Marks believes that he will be that guy when healthy.

"I mean, reasonably, I think the hope is that he returns to that level of play," Marks said. "I mean, if he was 35 years old, I wouldn't be able to tell you that. But I think knowing that he's mid 20s and he has still not reached his prime, we're going to make sure he can get back out there and get back to that form.