Since Kevin Durant got injured, the Brooklyn Nets have gone 2-6 and came down to #4 in the East, behind the Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers. And while Kyrie Irving has given his all in these games, Ben Simmons hasn’t upped his ante. At all.
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It would have been another thing if it looked like he was trying, and it wasn’t happening, but the 26 years is playing like he’s in the latter end of his career playing on a veteran minimum.
However, we know he is the 3rd highest earner with his $35 million contract among the current players in Brooklyn and will be the second-best earner next season after Irving’s contract expires.
The former teammate of KD and Irving, Kendrick Perkins thinks the Nets should consider getting rid of Simmons when they can.
ESPN analyst Kendrick Perkins suggests the Nets to trade Ben Simmons
The Nets lost a close game to Ben Simmons’ former team on Wednesday by 4 points. And there wasn’t much that the former Philly guard could do on either end of the floor to help convert Kyrie’s 30-point double-double effort into a win.
If he could have just shown up on the defensive end and got a couple of stops like the good old days in Wells Fargo Center, the Nets would’ve surely won the game, and he would have had something close to revenge on both Embiid and the harsh Philadelphians.
But the 6ft 10” point guard’s game kept him out of most of the fourth quarter and that’s the reason why the 2008 NBA champ thinks the Nets should start considering him for trade before the deadline in the upcoming month.
.@KendrickPerkins says the Nets should consider trading Ben Simmons 😳 pic.twitter.com/uHsuzeizNv
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 26, 2023
As much as I believe Big Perk goes over the line with most of his takes, this one is not one of those.
The big problem with big Ben
In the last 5 games, Brooklyn has scored around 120 points on average whereas their opponents have scored about 121 points. If Simmons cannot play the role of the team’s primary defender while they also have DPOY-caliber Nic Claxton supporting him, what is even doing with the team?
One thing is clear from all these games he cannot even help with 10 points a game even when there is a need for 15–20 points in the scoring department. With him struggling on the defensive side of the ball as well, it’s time for the Nets to look for somebody else in the market in exchange for Ben. Currently, got himself an injury in the 122-130 loss against the Pistons. Yes, the Detroit Pistons.
