Nets waive Ben Simmons, who might end up with Clippers
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Ben Simmons was waived by the Brooklyn Nets on Saturday after the team agreed to a buyout with the last remaining link to a failed era of building around All-Stars.
The No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft was not with the Nets for their victory over the Miami Heat on Friday night as the sides worked on completing the buyout deal.
Simmons, who is making $40 million this season and would be a free agent after clearing waivers, is expected to meet with the Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers and Houston Rockets, according to multiple reports.
Coach Jordi Fernandez praised Simmons before the game Friday for working his way back from a series of injuries that caused such an ineffective time in Brooklyn.
“I know that not playing for a season and then limited games another season and now fighting his way back, playing I think it was a little over 20 minutes or mid-20s,” said Fernandez, in his first season with the Nets. “So that’s pretty good. Really good to see that after going through a surgery, now being back playing basketball.”
But it’s far less than the Nets hoped when they acquired the three-time All-Star in a trade for James Harden at the 2022 trade deadline. He was never able to join Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving on the court that season after hurting his back while trying to work his way back into shape after sitting out the first half of that season in Philadelphia.
The Clippers traded Terance Mann and Bones Hyland to the Atlanta Hawks for Bogdan Bogdanovic and three second-round picks right before the NBA’s trade deadline Thursday.
The injury problems, mostly due to lower back nerve damage, continued to limit Simmons. He made it through just half of the 2022-23 season, during which Durant and Irving were both traded, and played only 15 games last season.
Simmons played in 33 of the Nets’ 52 games this season, starting 24, and averaged 6.2 points and 6.9 assists.
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