Infotainment Factory: Nets coach backflips on 'healthy' Simmons

Ben Simmons is set to begin training camp next week with no restrictions after two injury-shortened seasons in Brooklyn.

If he stays healthy, Simmons may even be able to return to his roots as a point guard.

Nets coach Jacque Vaughn said that the former All-Star has been playing 5-on-5 this summer and will have an expanded role offensively if he can avoid further injuries.

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Simmons didn't play after the All-Star break last season, slowed by a sore left knee and then shut down early because of a nerve injury in his back.

Ben Simmons of the Brooklyn Nets reacts after a block.

Simmons had largely fallen out of the rotation even before then, with Vaughn now saying he has learned through their discussions this summer that the No.1 pick in the 2016 draft simply didn't have the strength to do some of the things his coach wanted after undergoing back surgery the previous offseason.

Vaughn said he has an "agreement" rather than a commitment to play the Aussie at point guard this season.

"I would use the word agreement more so than commitment. The agreement is if he's playing at a consistently high level then I think our pictures look exactly the same," he said.

"If Simmons can play with a downhill force that defences have to respect, he'll run point and have the ball. If not, it'll be more of what we saw last year.

"My relationship with Ben is in such a good place right now. I expected him to do things that I've come to understand physically he just couldn't do.

"But the things I'm asking him to do moving forward, I think he can physically do now. So that puts us in a position where I can use multiple lineups with different people around him to have success on both ends of the floor."

Simmons still views himself as a lead guard, the position he played while earning three All-Star selections in Philadelphia.

He played as a forward or backup centre last season in Brooklyn, where Kyrie Irving was the point guard when Simmons arrived in a trade for James Harden in February 2022.

With Irving now in Dallas and Simmons seemingly back at full strength, Vaughn said their agreement is that Simmons will be able to play the way he wants if he shows he can handle it.

“I think if Ben is able to play consistently in a certain way, there’s no doubt then that he should have the basketball in his hands,” Vaughn said. “You have to guard him with the basketball in his hands.”