Nets acquisition Ben Simmons has been suffering from pain in his back in preparing to make his season debut, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic.
Simmons will need to further strengthen the area before joining the team on the court, Charania wrote. To this point, no timeline for a debut has been given.
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.
This is yet another setback for Simmons, who hasn’t played in an NBA game since Philadelphia’s loss to the Hawks in Game 7 of last season’s Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Nets are hopeful of having star forward Kevin Durant (knee) back within a week, coach Steve Nash said Saturday. Also, point guard Kyrie Irving will presumably be eligible to participate in home games soon, as New York City is expected to lift its vaccine mandate.
Basically, by the playoffs, the Nets have high hopes of having Durant, Irving and Simmons all in the lineup at the same time, if not a couple weeks before the postseason even begins.
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