LAS VEGAS — The Nets say the key for them to make the jump to the next level isn’t getting an All-Star but getting their own lone All-Star healthy.
That means getting Ben Simmons fit and back to form.
Brooklyn has just one All-Star on the roster, and Simmons is it.
As he recovers from back woes, the question is, can fans reasonably ever expect him to return to All-Star form?
“Yeah, that’s a great question,” Nets GM Sean Marks said after Sunday’s 98-80 summer league win over the Knicks. “Reasonably, the hope is that he returns to that level of play.
“If he was 35 years old, I wouldn’t be honestly be able to tell you that. But knowing that he’s mid-20s and he has still, hopefully, not reached his prime, we’re going to make sure he can get back out there and get back to that form. And hopefully we see his game even evolve past that. But health is going to be the key to him.”
But can the Nets really be sure that happens?
They traded James Harden for Simmons in February 2022, and he’s only played 42 games for them, none since Feb. 15 due to a bad back.
After Simmons had a microdiscectomy for a herniated L-4 disk on May 5, 2022, multiple experts told The Post it would take 18 months for him to fully recover.
He tried to play through pain this past season, but got shut down with a nerve impingement.
Still rehabbing in Miami, Simmons, 26, pulled out of next month’s FIBA World Cup and notably isn’t playing three-on-three yet, much less five-on-five, but in many ways holds the key to Brooklyn’s fortunes.
“He’s not doing three-on-three or five-on-five yet. I was down there two weeks ago with him and the training staff and saw the progress, and happy to report he’s in a great physical shape. And also mentally, he’s raring and champing at the bit to get out there,” said Marks. “We’ve got time. This is not something we’re going to rush him back in to play five-on-five in the next couple weeks. But he’s progressing.
“This particular summer, he just ran out of time [to play in the World Cup]. It just wasn’t the right thing to do to put him out there without playing and rushing it. … I think this was made in Brooklyn’s best interest and Ben’s long-term health.”
Simmons’ long-term health is offseason priority No. 1.
He still has two years and $78.2 million left on his contract. For a young All-Star who averaged 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists in his career — and was Defensive Player of the Year runner-up in 2021 — it seems reasonable.
For a compromised and inconsistent reclamation project who mustered just 6.9 points and got benched last season, it’s an albatross.
It’s no wonder what Spencer Dinwiddie said when he was asked by NBA TV’s Dennis Scott what the Nets needed to take the next step.
“The easy answer is Ben,” said Dinwiddie. “A healthy Ben is an All-Star, max-level guy. He could completely change the complexion of our team and can make us a really exciting group, especially defensively.
“Ben was already hurt so I only played a handful of games with him. But I know him from his old Philly days and for all intents and purposes he can get back to that form. I think he’s got it in him. Obviously a young guy and I’m looking forward to seeing it this season.”
After the Nets had contentious contract talks with Kyrie Irving and saw him force a trade, Marks was asked about the star getting a three-year deal in Dallas.
“I think when players leave here and they go somewhere else, it’s a different environment, its a different opportunity for them. We wish them all, I wish Kyrie well and the Mavericks well,” said Marks. “We’re obviously at a different timeline and so forth. So I’m not honestly dwelling on what could have or should have.”
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