Nets' biggest disappointment early in 2024-25 season

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The Brooklyn Nets continue to find ways to compete, despite the departures of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden. While the Nets do have some interesting pieces and earned some surprising wins, they are still just 9-10 in the NBA standings, sitting at the eight spot in the Eastern Conference.

It’s a safe bet that the Nets aren’t championship contenders, given that they’re still in the rebuilding chapter. In fact, they still have plenty of issues to deal with, none bigger than Ben Simmons’ continuing struggles.

As a result, the Nets’ biggest disappointment early in the 2024-2025 NBA season has been Simmons’ declining basketball career.

Ben Simmons yet to revert to old form

On paper, Simmons is supposed to be the undisputed leader of this Nets squad. He’s also the highest paid player on the team. However, Simmons isn’t playing like a star that he used to be.

Ever since his blunder in the playoff series between the Philadelphia 76ers and Atlanta Hawks in 2021, Simmons has never been the same. The Australian star received tremendous flak from NBA fans before a dramatic holdout against the Sixers front office. It eventually led him to getting dealt to the Nets as part of a blockbuster trade headlined by James Harden.

Ever since joining Brooklyn, Simmons has made little noise. Due to a myriad of injuries and off-court issues, the three time NBA All-Star could only play a total of 70 games in the span of three and a half seasons. It’s safe to say that Simmons has failed to live up to expectations and five-year max contract worth $177 million.

Now in the final year of his lucrative contract, NBA fans expected Simmons to at least show some effort in order to turn some heads before hitting free agency. However, should Simmons keep his level of play, his NBA career seems to be hanging in the balance. The Nets star is only averaging a career-low 5.3 points, but is producing 5.7 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.

While Simmons has shown flashes of his All-Star form, including a 12-assists performance against the New Orleans Pelicans, he has yet to do it at a consistent basis. Given that Simmons isn’t playing like an All-Star, it’s easy to see why the Nets aren’t exactly dubbed as contenders so far.

Simmons show hesitance to score 

Simmons isn’t known to be a scorer, but as an elite all-around player. However, the Australian guard drew flak in the first place for his hesitancy to score when the team needs him to. Just like his final days with the Sixers, Simmons can be caught passing up open lay-ups. This ultimately disrupts a team’s rhythm and paving the way for unwanted turnovers.

In the ongoing season, Simmons hasn’t also been aggressive scoring wise. The former All-NBA Team player is only attempting 4.6 shots per game. That’s not exactly what you would expect from a NBA star who’s planning to rake in at least $40 million for the season. In fact, even Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez has publicly expressed his desire for Simmons to shoot the basket more, commanding a minimum of 10 shots.

However, Simmons is failing to hit the mark. The most attempts Simmons has made this year in a game has been eight against the Charlotte Hornets. It was also his season-high in scoring, finishing with 10 points. Unfortunately, Simmons has yet to finish in double-figures in a game this year.

Injury woes persist

Another knock in Simmons game has been his inability to stay healthy. As mentioned previously, Simmons has yet to play a full 82 game season in his career. Since joining the Nets, the most he could do in a regular season has been 42. However, the former NBA Rookie of the Year has yet to come close to that mark. Although it was expected that Simmons would play more this year with an expiring deal, the Nets star is already showing early signs of health issues.

Simmons has already missed five games early into the 2024-2025 season. So far, the Nets are 2-3 with Simmons sitting out and 6-7 when he plays. The Nets need Simmons to be healthy if they want to hope for at least a spot in the Play-In Tournament or to make some noise in the NBA In-Season Tournament. He’s still arguably the most decorated player in their roster.

On the other hand, Simmons needs to stay healthy this year to at least give himself a chance to boost his diminishing stock in the league before becoming a free agent in the upcoming offseason.

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