Ben Simmons has taken his talents to the Los Angeles Clippers after agreeing to a contract buyout with the Nets and clearing waivers on Saturday. In a way, seeing the 28-year-old sign with that team is poetic. He now teams up with James Harden, the same player the Philadelphia 76ers traded him for in 2022.
“I appreciate his time and work with the group, and now it’s time for both sides to move on and see what we got here,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said. “We’re excited with the group of guys we have. Obviously, we wish him luck and the best for him and his family, and now [we’re] focusing on this group.”
Simmons’ tenure in Brooklyn ends with 90 games played and zero playoff appearances over three seasons. His former teammates and coaches publicly reacted to his absence for the first time following Sunday’s practice.
“We’ll miss having Ben around,” Day’Ron Sharpe said. “He brought a lot of chemistry for us, setting up stuff off the court for us, getting team bonding together, playing [Call of Duty] with him… We’ll miss him on the court, talking on defense, passing the ball, running the court hard, getting us to play hard, just that energy he brought.
Simmons gave back $1.1 million, the prorated minimum contract, in his buyout, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The Clippers, who have found past success in the buyout market with Reggie Jackson, Nicolas Batum and Russell Westbrook, entered Sunday’s games ranked seventh in the Western Conference at 29-23.
The 6-10 guard has averaged 6.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists in 33 appearances this season. While the Nets were used to playing without him in stretches, now that he’s gone, Fernandez has to figure out how to make up those minutes.
“Ben is Ben,” Fernandez said. “Now whoever plays, just have to try and be yourself. It’s on me to figure it out, figure out what’s best for the group. Obviously having somebody who can get us organized is important, have enough size to rebound and do different things in this league is very important as well.”
Maybe that means more minutes for Keon Johnson or Trendon Watford. Or perhaps D’Angelo Russell will step into a role of higher importance. The answer is likely some mix of all of the above. However, the Nets have proven that they can be productive in transition without Simmons on the court. They tallied 20 fastbreak points in Friday’s 102-86 defeat of the Miami Heat at Barclays Center, a game where Simmons was away from the team.
The three-time All-Star was not cleared to play in back-to-back sets this season, still recovering from offseason surgery. He underwent a successful microscopic partial discectomy in March to alleviate the pinched nerve in his lower back that limited him to just 15 games in 2023-24 — his second surgery since he was acquired in the Harden deal.
“It starts with defense,” Fernandez said. “If you get stops, then it’s the beginning of your offense, and usually after rebounds or stops you can run better. And I think from [D’Angelo] to everybody else, we have players who can make those decisions in transition, we can get the good early shot.”