[Trending News] NBA Rumors: Ben Simmons, Nets Working on Contract Buyout; Clippers, Cavs, More Linked

Ben Simmons and the Brooklyn Nets are working on a contract buyout now that the 2025 NBA trade deadline has passed, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

Charania linked the Los Angeles Clippers and the Cleveland Cavaliers as possible landing spots:

ESPN’s Brian Windhorst previously named the Cavaliers and the Houston Rockets as possible suitors.

Simmons is making a whopping $40.3 million this season in the final year of a five-year, $177.2 million extension he signed with the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Nets originally acquired Simmons from the Sixers prior to the 2022 trade deadline. Brooklyn had sent star guard James Harden, veteran forward Paul Millsap and two future first-round picks to Philadelphia to acquire Simmons along with veterans Seth Curry and Andre Drummond. Unfortunately, the team’s partnership with Simmons has been ill-fated from the start.

Simmons failed to make an appearance for the Nets before the end of the 2021-22 campaign due to a back injury. When he returned to the court the following season, he was a complete shell of himself and made minimal impact on either end of the floor. He appeared in 42 games during the 2022-23 season before being limited to just 15 games in 2023-24 due to continued back issues that required offseason surgery.

In 33 games this season, he’s averaged just 6.2 points, 6.9 assists and 5.2 rebounds for a rebuilding Nets team that ranks 12th in the Eastern Conference with a 17-34 record.

The No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA draft, Simmons was once one of the best two-way players in the league. He earned three consecutive All-Star selections from 2019 to 2021 and was named to the All-Defensive first team in back-to-back years in 2020 and 2021.

It’s unlikely that Simmons will return to that level of play anytime soon, but if he gets bought out, he could garner interest from teams who believe he can contribute to their quest for a playoff spot this season.