The Philadelphia 76ers’ title hopes will ride in large part on the performance of Ben Simmons, but Brett Brown is tempering expectations for him a bit.
Speaking this week with Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated, the Sixers head coach said that, though he does anticipate Simmons being available, he does not expect the star forward to be at 100 percent when the season resumes.
“My opinion, and this is not confirmed yet, is that we are going to be able to inch him back into this,” said Brown. “Is he going to be 100 percent, I don’t expect that. But I think he is going to be available.”
The 23-year-old Simmons, who had been posting strong averages of 16.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game this season, went down in February with nerve impingement in his lower back. He has had some added time to recover though, and the NBA’s planned restart at the end of July would put Simmons at over five months removed from the injury.
Still, Brown recently revealed just how unsettling Simmons’ injury was, so it is fair to expect that the two-time All-Star won’t be operating at full capacity right away when play picks back up again.
