Simmons proclaims himself fit
CAMDEN, N.J. >> Ben Simmons was cleared to resume training on his surgically repaired foot. Apparently that doesn’t mean much.
Available to the press for the first time since the opening game of the Sixers’ 28-54 season, Simmons Thursday was unable to declare himself ready for the summer league, training camp or opening night of his second season.
He wasn’t even ready to work out… at least until next week.
“What day is this?” he said, when asked when those newly-approved workouts would commence. “Thursday? Then, it will probably be Tuesday.” No rush. Is there ever? Simmons, the No. 1 overall pick in the last draft, was injured late in training camp and missed the entire season. The Sixers, after consultation with their deep medical staff, acknowledged Wednesday that he was cleared to begin
a “gradual progression” toward “five-on-five” basketball. That progression could, however, be gradual enough that it costs Simmons participation in the NBA Summer League… and more.
“If I am ready to play,” he responded, when asked about the summer competition, “I’m ready. I am going to see what happens. I can’t play if I’m not ready, so, I have to see if I’m ready first.”
Pressed on the issue, he dismissed questioning with, “That’s the future, though.”
While Simmons may not have sufficient time to prepare physically for the summer league, he would not even commit to being ready for training camp.
“I can’t promise anything,” Simmons said. “But I am going to work back to where I was.”
When the Sixers drafted him last June, Brett Brown’s initial instinct was to suggest him as a perimeter player. Since then, the Sixers coach has envisioned him as a point guard, and is expecting to hand him the ball on Opening Night. That means Simmons will require seasoning at a new position… seasoning he is not promising to receive. Rather, his description of his workout schedule is, at best, rudimentary.
“It’s just to work out, a normal workout, you know what it is,” Simmons said. “Shoot, dribble, run. We’ll just build up to it. Obviously, they are not going to put me in five-on-five straight away.”
Simmons said he benefited from traveling with the Sixers this season and learning some leadership skills from, among others, Jerryd Bayless and Gerald Henderson. Brown hopes Simmons will share a starting backcourt with Bayless next season.
“I’m with that,” Simmons said. “I definitely will be a point guard and one of the leaders. Challenge-wise, it is going to be tough. But I am going to learn it.”
He is not going to learn the new position, though, at any advanced pace. Asked when he would resume five-on-five basketball, Simmons said, “When do I expect it? When they tell me.” But is there a timetable? “When they tell me,” he repeated.
Originally, there were some timetables for Simmons’ return this season. At first, he insisted he wanted to play this season. But repeated CT scans caused the Sixers to practice caution. By the time the season unraveled, they would scratch him for the rest of the year.
“It was no rush,” he said. “We weren’t in the playoffs. Might as well put the time in and make sure I was 100 percent. It was frustrating. I wanted to be out there.”
He still does. But that rush? There still isn’t much of one.