Steve Nash Unsure Ben Simmons Will Play vs. Sixers in Preseason

On Tuesday, the Philadelphia 76ers traveled to Charleston, South Carolina, to kick off training camp in preparation for the 2022-2023 season.

In less than a week, the Sixers will wrap up their training camp and begin preparing for their regular season with their preseason opener, which takes place on Monday, October 3, on the road against the Brooklyn Nets.

The preseason opener between the Sixers and the Nets garnered a lot of interest from fans considering who is on each side of the competition.

Last year, the Sixers and the Nets struck a blockbuster deal at the trade deadline to swap stars. Philadelphia’s disgruntled three-time All-Star Ben Simmons got his wish and was sent packing to Brooklyn along with Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and draft picks.

In exchange, the Sixers received the ten-time All-Star James Harden, who grew disgruntled with the Brooklyn Nets midway through the year.

The Nets and the Sixers faced each other one time since the blockbuster trade in March of last season. While Harden, Curry, and Drummond all played, Simmons did not as a back injury held him out for the entire 2021-2022 NBA season.

Could Monday’s preseason matchup be the first time Simmons takes the floor with the Nets to compete against his former team? According to Brooklyn’s head coach Steve Nash, it’s too early to tell whether Simmons will go or not.

Steve Nash said he still hasn’t determined who will play in Monday’s preseason opener.
— Chris Milholen (@ChrisMilholen) September 29, 2022

While the Nets head coach didn’t single out Simmons, he made it clear that no decision has been made on who will play for Brooklyn at home against Philadelphia next week.

Therefore, other stars such as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving could be out of the lineup as well.

As for the Sixers, Doc Rivers hasn’t addressed who will get playing time or not on Monday. Considering it’s just a preseason game, starters likely won’t get more than a half’s worth of playing time.

While the new-look Sixers could use some valuable minutes to build on their chemistry during the preseason when the games don’t matter much, getting to the regular season healthy will be the key for both Brooklyn and Philly.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.