Ben Simmons Could Make Nets Debut on March 15

Ben Simmons is expected to make his Nets debut sometime around the middle of the month, perhaps March 15 vs. the Magic, per multiple reports.

Simmons was sitting out the season for the 76ers, and has been bothered by back stiffness since being traded to the Nets on Feb. 10. While he won’t play in Brooklyn’s game at Philadelphia on Thursday, he is expected to join the team on the bench, per Shams Charania of Stadium.

Simmons, 25, was acquired by the Nets as part of the James Harden trade with the 76ers. Brooklyn also received guard Seth Curry and center Andre Drummond in the deal. 

Ben Simmons will not play in Thursday’s Nets-76ers – but is expected to make the return trip to Philadelphia and join team on bench inside Wells Fargo Center, sources say. More: pic.twitter.com/3orGREnaX8

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 7, 2022

“He’s been rehabbing this last week to 10 days, and now he’ll hopefully progress throughout this week with some individual work,” Nets GM Sean Marks told YES Network last week. “Hopefully by the end of next week he’s getting more into the team environment. And then we can start getting him into some game shape and so forth.

“There’s no real timetable. We just have to take it day by day and see how he responds. Hopefully the sooner the better. We need to get this group together and get minutes together on the court.”

Should Simmons indeed be able to return by March 15, he and the Nets would have 14 games to get acclimated to each other before the playoffs.

Sam Amico is senior NBA writer at Hoops Wire. Follow @AmicoHoops.