Nets have ‘zero’ plans to shut down Ben Simmons

If the Nets had any plans to shut down Ben Simmons for the season, head coach Jacque Vaughn wasn’t aware of it. While Vaughn was vague on where Simmons is in the strengthening process that will have forced him to miss four straight games with left knee soreness, he was firm that the team wasn’t thinking of ending his season early.

Simmons did not play in Tuesday’s loss to the Milwaukee Bucks and was preemptively ruled out of Wednesday’s showdown with the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. The Nets coach said that there were no plans for Simmons to undergo an MRI and that there wasn’t any major concern surrounding the issue.

“It’s just us trying to take advantage of where we are in the calendar coming off of (the) all-star (break),” Vaughn said. Using the two practices that we had and getting feedback that way, and just continuing. We want to get to a position where we have no reoccurrence of swelling or anything of that nature.”

Vaughn wouldn’t address the markers that the Nets are looking for Simmons to meet in order to get back on the floor. As for any thought about shutting Simmons down, Vaugh was adamant that hadn’t crossed anyone’s mind.

“No, that’s a zero on that one. Go zero. Think I went zero last time, going zero again, no discussion,” Vaughn said emphatically.

While the Nets continue to hold the line on that, the idea of shutting Simmons down for the rest of the year isn’t too far-fetched considering the number of games he’s missed. The issue with his knee has been ongoing this season and Brooklyn has had to be cautious with his usage after he’s missed extended periods of time after playing in back-to-back games.

Simmons had career lows across the board with the Nets this year after having back surgery in the offseason. He is averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists in 42 games this year for Brooklyn, while also shooting an abysmal 43.9% from the free-throw line.

Right now, Vaughn is labeling the work that Simmons is doing in the “bucket of strengthening”

“I don’t want to get into markers and what he’s doing on a daily basis,” Vaughn said. “I just kind of want to put it all in the bucket of strengthening. That’s what it is at the end of the day, whether that’s consisting of weight-room stuff, whether that is conditioning stuff, whether that is basketball stuff, it’s all built around him trying to strengthen and get back to playing.”