Report: Nets have no plans to “dump” or waive Ben Simmons
The Brooklyn Nets are coming off a disappointing 2023-24 season in which the organization failed its own mission of getting back to the playoffs. While there are plenty of reasons why Brooklyn did not make it to the playoffs, one of the main reasons was not having their highest-paid player available for most of the season.
Nets guard Ben Simmons, who was paid almost $38 million last season (most on the team), played in just 15 games due to two separate nerve impingements in his back. Per a recent article by NetsDaily, “there’s currently no plan to dump him, to waive and stretch him to save cap space, etc” based on what league insiders shared with the outlet.
This line of thinking tracks with what Brian Lewis of the New York Post reported in April that Brooklyn “appears” to be moving forward with Simmons as a member of the team. Simmons, 27, is due to earn $40.3 million next season and based on many reports, it looks like the Nets will be hoping one last time that Simmons can give more to the team than what he has done thus far.
As Keith Smith of Spotrac pointed out in his recent piece about Brooklyn’s financial outlook for 2024, Simmons has multiple ways of providing value to the Nets outside of his availability on the court. At the very least, if Simmons is not able to play many games in the 2024-25 season, he will clear $40 million in cap space for Brooklyn heading into the 2025 offseason.
