Despite parting ways with Mikal Bridges and having a mostly younger squad, the Brooklyn Nets will enter the 2024-25 NBA season as a wild card. The Nets have signaled their investment in a full rebuild; however, there remain star-level players on the team who can help Brooklyn get wins now. One such player is Ben Simmons.
Nets fans are well aware of the injury struggles Simmons has endured since Brooklyn acquired him in February 2022. However, he appears to have turned a new corner, and one renowned NBA trainer spoke highly of Simmons' condition ahead of the Nets 2024-25 campaign.
Chris Brickley has trained dozens of professional and collegiate basketball players, and Ben Simmons was one of his clients during the summer of 2024. Social media went into a craze when a video of Simmons shooting jumpers with Brickley surfaced in late September.
Not long after, Brickley defended Simmons on social media with keen praise after a user suggested the former All-Star was a lost cause:
"Thanks bro but Ben is healthy, moving very well, he is better now than his All Star seasons. I’ve never co-signed a player that didn’t prove it when their season started. Trust me on this one," Brickley posted on X (formerly Twitter).
Will Ben Simmons live up to the hype during the 2024-25 season?
Simmons has played just 57 combined games during his first two years with the Nets. Furthermore, his points-per-game average has been nearly cut in half from when he played for the Philadelphia 76ers. He went from averaging no less than 14.3 points with Philly to averaging no more than 6.9 points with Brooklyn. Thus, Simmons has pressing questions he must answer for the Nets at the start of the season.
Despite his setbacks, Simmons appears to be healthy and explosive again, which is great news for the Nets. Simmons' playmaking, inside scoring, and Defensive Player of the Year potential can help take the young Nets to a higher level.
One facet of Simmons' game fans have been waiting years for is his outside shooting. He is a career 13.9 percent three-point shooter on very few attempts. It seems like Simmons works on his jump shot during almost every offseason. Yet, it has not translated to the regular season. With Chris Brickley's endorsement though, Brooklyn could get a never-seen-before version of Simmons that would bode well for the borough.
Will Simmons finally experience his resurgence in Brooklyn in 2024-25?