Ben Simmons Will Begin Brooklyn Nets Era vs. Sixers

Former Sixers star Ben Simmons can kill two birds with one stone on Monday night.

Ben Simmons and the Philadelphia 76ers planned to be together for a long time. Following one season at LSU in 2015-2016, Simmons was the NBA’s consensus first pick. Once the tanking Sixers acquired the No. 1 selection through the lottery, it became clear Simmons was Philly bound.

After spending three seasons with the 76ers organization and giving them two years of proof he’ll be a valuable asset to the franchise, the Sixers rewarded Simmons with a long-term max extension.

At that point, it seemed Simmons was on his way to being a Sixer until 2025 at the earliest. But following a disappointing 2021 playoff run, Simmons wanted to part ways with the organization prematurely.

It took a while for Simmons to get his wish to be traded. For more than half the 2021-2022 NBA season, Simmons remained away from the team on game nights as he wasn’t mentally ready to return to the court.

Eventually, the inevitable breakup happened. At the 2022 trade deadline, the Sixers and the Nets engaged in a blockbuster trade to swap stars. While the Sixers gave up more than just Ben Simmons in a package to land James Harden, the move was for the best as Simmons proved the Sixers couldn’t sway him to return and play for the organization.

Simmons planned to get back on the court with the Brooklyn Nets, but the three-time All-Star suffered a back injury as he was ramping up and getting into game shape. The Nets hoped Simmons would recover and make a late-season debut, but the regular season ended before he could.

Although there was speculation Simmons would make his Nets debut in the first round of the playoffs against the Boston Celtics, but Simmons wasn’t present on the court at all for the series that ended in a sweep in favor of Boston.

All summer long, Simmons has been working on getting back to playing while recovering from back surgery. As long as he didn’t suffer further setbacks, the Nets seemed optimistic Simmons would be ready to make his Nets debut as the 2022-2023 season begins.

As it turns out, that will be the case. And Simmons can kill two birds with one stone on Monday when the Nets open up their 2022 preseason.

Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Ben Simmons will all play in the Nets’ preseason opener tomorrow. Yay.

— Alec Sturm (@Alec_Sturm) October 2, 2022

According to Nets Daily’s Alec Sturm, Ben Simmons is on pace to play in Brooklyn’s Monday night preseason opener against the Sixers.

Therefore, Simmons will finally make his long-awaited debut with his new team, along with facing his old team for the first time, helping him get the awkwardness out of the way early in the year.

While Simmons’ first actual return to South Philly will still be a hostile environment for the former disgruntled 76er, at least he can get a sneak peek of what it will be like to face his former team in the preseason when the games don’t matter much.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.