NBA News: Ben Simmons Won't Debut for Nets Before Playoffs

When Ben Simmons reportedly made it clear to the Philadelphia 76ers that he wouldn't suit up to play another game as long as he's on the roster, he wasn't bluffing. 

As the Sixers played in over 50 games this year with Simmons still on the roster, the three-time All-Star didn't spend a single second on the court for them.

While it seemed Simmons' chances of getting traded before the deadline kicked in were slim, the Brooklyn Nets' drama surrounding the disgruntled star James Harden changed the narrative.

Simmons wanted out of Philly, and Harden wanted out of Brooklyn. Therefore, the Sixers and the Nets struck a deal to make the two superstars happy. 

However, neither player debuted for their new team right away. Simmons, who missed the entire 2021-2022 NBA season at that point, needed a couple of weeks to ramp up his conditioning to get back into basketball shape.

Meanwhile, Harden was battling through a hamstring injury. Therefore, he missed a handful of games plus the All-Star game before making his Sixers debut.

Harden eventually debuted for the Sixers and has been healthy and playing ever since. The same can't be said for Simmons, though. Although he was on pace to make his Nets debut a few weeks back, Simmons suffered a back injury, putting his Brooklyn debut on hold.

With the regular season concluding this week, Simmons' status remained up in the air. At this point, Nets head coach Steve Nash made it clear that the three-time All-Star certainly won't suit up for the regular season or the Play-In Tournament, according to Nick Friedell of ESPN.

Done for the Year?

"He's not running, so yeah," Nash said. "I don't see him [being ready]. I would be shocked." "I mean that's a big progression just to get here," Nash said.

"So he was doing nothing on the floor. But obviously he clearly started strengthening and doing some light shooting. So super positive on one hand; on the other hand, it's not like ... we're expecting him in the lineup in the next week."

For the time being, the Nets will continue to rely on Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant to get them into the postseason. Considering the Nets are currently the tenth seed with four games left to go, they are locked into the Play-In Tournament.

There is a chance Brooklyn makes the postseason this year as one of the bottom seeds. In that case, the door will be left open for Simmons to make his season debut finally. However, it seems there is still a chance that the young veteran could miss the entire year whether the Nets make the playoffs or not.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.