As seen on various videos circulating social media this week, Ben Simmons has still been limited to individual workouts at Nets practice. It's because of lingering back stiffness, and ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski provided some details Sunday of the "tremendous urgency" with the situation.
"There's tremendous urgency around the Nets to get Ben Simmons back on the court, get him incorporated and playing with this team," Wojnarowski said.
"That back problem has been an issue for him since he's tried to start ramping up. He's essentially really just done individual work at their facility. They're hoping by the end of this week, he'll be able to do more.
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"The Nets start a three-game road trip today against the Celtics. Simmons is going to join them at some point. The Nets' hope is when Brooklyn gets back after Thursday's game in Philly, Simmons at that point will be ready to start getting on the floor with his teammates, increasing his workload and getting closer to returning."
Simmons obviously will not play Thursday when the Sixers host the Nets. There were rumblings earlier this week that Simmons may not play at all in March. The Nets have five regular-season games in April.
On Monday morning, The Athletic's Shams Charania reported that Simmons does plan to be at the Wells Fargo Center and with his teammates on the bench for Thursday's game.
The Sixers are 4-0 with James Harden in the lineup since the blockbuster trade. The Nets lost again Sunday to the Celtics and fell below .500 at 32-33. They're currently the 9-seed and would be in the play-in tournament.