Ben Simmons is averaging 6.2 points and 6.9 assists over 33 games this season.
Ben Simmons has joined the LA Clippers after agreeing to a contract buyout with the Brooklyn Nets.
The No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft was officially waived by the Nets over the weekend.
Simmons cleared the waiver wire before being signed by LA.
Welcome to #ClipperNation, Ben Simmons! pic.twitter.com/5t3w4kUqaH
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 10, 2025
Nets coach Jordi Fernandez praised Simmons before last Friday’s game 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 trying to work his way back into shape after sitting out the first half of that season in Philadelphia.
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.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
