At this point in his career, Ben Simmons has really struggled to remain healthy enough to be on the floor. Since his last All-Star campaign in the 2020-21 season, he’s played just 57 total games over the course of three years.
Even then, he’s been on a max contract and due a significant amount of money. The Brooklyn Nets have paid the price over the past two and a half years, as Simmons has played less than 35 games in each season that he has been in Brooklyn.
Luckily for the Nets, every bad, high-price contract eventually becomes a valuable asset. While Simmons hasn’t been worth north of $35 million like he’s been paid the past two seasons, he is now entering the final year of his deal. That means the Nets have a $40.3 million expiring contract to work with this offseason and into the 2024-25 campaign.
This could end up being a positive contract in multiple ways.
For starters, this is the type of salary that is necessary to trade for a star player. Having a massive deal to help match the money is of extreme value. Furthermore, the team that the Nets would be trading with would benefit from having that money come off the books next summer. This makes Simmons a valuable trade piece in certain scenarios.
If the Nets don’t trade Simmons, that expiring money could set them up nicely for the summer of 2025. Having more than $40 million in cap space open up from his expiring salary would allow Brooklyn to go hunting for a star in free agency.
In short, Simmons’ contract has been a huge negative since he was traded to the Nets. However, it’s now a positive asset that can be leveraged in a few ways to benefit the franchise.
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