The Brooklyn Nets have officially ruled out Ben Simmons for tonight’s game against the Bulls, per the NBA’s Official Injury Report.
Simmons also missed Monday night’s game against the Indiana Pacers due to his ongoing knee soreness. Shams Charania reported on The Rally earlier this week that the hope was Simmons would sit out one of the two games in Brooklyn’s back-to-back set, but the player’s knee seemingly had other plans.
All things considered, while the Simmons loss doesn’t tip the scale much further in the Bulls’ direction, it does take arguably Brooklyn’s best defender off the floor. A two-time All-Defensive First Team member, Simmons has the combination of length, size, and quickness to give talented scorers like Zach LaVine and DeMar DeRozan trouble. Not to mention, on the offensive end, he’s still a gifted playmaker who is currently leading the Nets with 7.3 assists per game.
So while Simmons’ absence may help the Bulls’ struggling offense find its rhythm, Brooklyn’s own offense might actually see its own boost. We all know Simmons is allergic to a jumper, and not having him on the floor could give the Nets an opportunity to have more shooters around their two superstars. And, for a team that has allowed opponents to shoot a league-high 43.2 percent from behind the arc, that isn’t the best news.
Anyway, Simmons’ availability is probably the last thing on Brooklyn’s mind right now. The organization is currently in the middle of quite a significant change, as they fired Steve Nash on Tuesday afternoon before promptly announcing the likely hire of Ime Udoka. More on all that below …