Ben Simmons reportedly fully recovered from back surgery, ready for Nets training camp

The offseason Ben Simmons hype train is going full speed. Again.

Simmons played in 15 games last season in Brooklyn before shutting things down for a partial discectomy (the surgeon removes a piece of herniated disc between vertebrates), a surgery hoped to be more of a long-term fix for the back impingement that has bothered him for years (he has played in 57 games in the last three seasons, since the last time he was named an All-Star). Simmons reportedly is fully recovered from the surgery, something his trainer Chris Brickley and his agent Bernie Lee have put out there, the latter via NBA insider Chris Haynes.

All things Simmons should be taken with not just a grain but a full box of Morton’s Kosher salt. We’ve all been down this road multiple times. It’s not just that Simmons has to get to training camp healthy, he has to maintain it.

There’s a lot of pressure on Simmons this season as he enters the final year of the five-year, $177 million max extension he signed with Philadelphia in 2019 (he will make $40.3 million this season). His health and how he plays this season will have a major impact on his next contract — or if there is a next contract. When Simmons did play last season he averaged 6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 5.7 assists a game on 58.1% shooting, looking like the Simmons we have come to know: A quality defender who can do almost everything on offense except shoot a jump shot, which limits him considerably.

Expect Simmons’ name to come up in trade talks around Brooklyn — and there will be a lot of trade rumors around the Nets as they are expected to be sellers — but more as an expiring contract and salary ballast than as a player.

If Simmons wants to be valued more as a player, he will have to stay on the court and earn it.