East Notes: Nets, Ben Simmons, Bulls, Lonzo Ball, Pacers

Nets

Guard/forward Ben Simmons is hiring Bernie Lee as his new agent after parting ways with Rich Paul and Klutch Sports, per Jon Krawczynski of The Athletic. Lee also represents Heat swingman Jimmy Butler and Jazz guard Kris Dunn, among others.

Simmons may be shut down for the season again with back and ankle issues. He is averaging career-lows of 6.9 points and 6.1 assists after missing all of last year.

• Coach Jacque Vaughn said a small-ball lineup is what works best for the Nets at the moment, via Brian Lewis of the New York Post.

Bulls

Point guard Lonzo Ball could miss all of next season after it was revealed he was getting surgery to replace cartilage in his left knee.

Coach Billy Donovan did not give a specific timeline for Ball’s potential return.

“For me to say, ‘I have no hope that he’s ever gonna play here again’ or ‘Yeah, he’s definitely going to be back,’ I just don’t know,” Donovan said, via Andrew Seligman of The Associated Press.

The surgery will be Ball’s third in the knee in a little more than a year. He missed the second half of last season and all of this one, too.

“Even though he comes in, he’s around the team for a period of time, there is a lot of time that he’s away from everybody,” Donovan said. “Just having to come to grips of not playing is really, really hard, I think, probably for him to absorb. But he handles himself incredibly well. He’s so consistent all the time with his spirit and disposition and what he’s tried to do every step of the way to get back.”

Pacers

While the Pacers have been fairly unpredictable, shooting guard Andrew Nembhard has been surging. Over the last five games, he’s averaging nearly 19 points.

“I think the force that I’m going to the rim with, the amount of shots I’m taking at the rim instead of mid-range shots,” Nembhard said, via Dustin Dopirak of the Indianapolis Star. “I think I’m just being more aggressive in transition, understanding when to play with fast pace, when to slow it down, play with pace in ball screens. I think I’m just finding my pace a little bit more.”

• Indiana received the largest revenue payment of any NBA team last season, per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. In all, the Pacers brought in $42.2 million as a result of revenue sharing.