The Ben Simmons era in Brooklyn is coming to an unceremonious end.
The man who arrived amid headlines in 2022 — shipped out of Philadelphia to make way for James Harden — is leaving via a quiet buyout, a story broken by Chris Haynes and confirmed by multiple reports. Simmons is making $40.3 million this season (the final year of the five-year, $170 million deal he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2019) and will take a little haircut on a buyout to become a free agent.
That contract — even more than his injury history — was the biggest impediment to other teams’ interest in recent years, but now that they might be able to get him at minimum, the Clippers, Rockets, and Cavaliers all have interest, reports Shams Charania of ESPN. Simmons is set to meet with those teams, discuss his role—a bench role for all of them—and then, once he lines that up, finalize his buyout with the Nets.
Simmons has played in 33 of the Nets’ 51 games this season, averaging 6.2 points, 6.9 assists and 5.2 rebounds a night. However, his jumper is still an issue — he has yet to make a basket outside the paint (0-6) and has not attempted a 3-pointer this season.