The Nets are working on a buyout agreement with forward/guard Ben Simmons, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania. The Cavaliers and Clippers are among the teams that would be suitors for the former All-Star. The Athletic’s Law Murray confirmed the Clippers interest on Thursday. On Thursday’s trade deadline, NBA Today show ESPN’s Brian Windhorst reported Houston as a potential suitor as well.
Simmons is in the final year of a five-year maximum, which he signed with Philadelphia, which began in 2020. He’s owed $40.34M this year, but it’s unclear at this juncture how much of that he’ll give up in his buyout with the team.
He was originally traded to the Nets at the 2022 deadline in the deal that landed James Harden with Philadelphia. However, after holding out for part of the season and dealing with a back injury, Simmons ultimately didn’t suit up for the Nets until the 2022-23 season. He didn’t end up playing much for Brooklyn over the following three seasons, appearing in a total of 90 games (69 starts) for the Nets, averaging 6.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists while only taking 5.3 shots per game.
While Simmons isn’t the same level of defender as he was when he finished no lower than fourth in Defensive Player of the Year voting in consecutive seasons from 2019-21, he still provides some intrigue on that end. Both the Cavaliers and Clippers have at least one open roster spot, so they wouldn’t need to clear the way to sign him. The Rockets don’t have a roster spot open but could waive Cody Zeller once their series of trade deadline moves are completed.
Due to apron rules, the Celtics, Nuggets, Lakers, Bucks, Timberwolves, Knicks and Suns are ineligible to sign Simmons once he hits free agency, ESPN’s Bobby Marks notes. Those seven teams are either in the first or second apron and are thus not allowed to sign players who make more than the mid-level exception, which is $12.8M.
As for the Nets, parting ways with Simmons allows the team to open a roster spot. They could see if any interesting young players worth taking fliers on hit waivers or they could opt to convert one of their two-way players to a standard deal if they so chose. Two-way players Tosan Evbuomwan and Tyrese Martin are both key contributors for the Nets.
