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Per the NY Post:
Nets point guard Ben Simmons has started feeling positive effects from the epidural he had in his back and has moved to the next phase of his rehab.
“He’s looking at, I think, in the matter of days to weeks, as opposed to weeks to months,” Simmons’ agent, Bernie Lee, told The Post.
Simmons, who hasn’t played since Nov. 6 and got the shot a little over a week ago, is doing aqua jogging — running in water. He’s working toward on-court activity.
Per the Orlando Sentinel:
The Magic went 18 days between their last two losses and both came on the road in Brooklyn.
The Nets (10-9) snapped Orlando‘s nine-game winning streak Saturday night at Barclays Center behind 42 points from forward Mikal Bridges.
Jamahl Mosley’s squad (14-6) allowed 43 points in the first quarter and was unable to fully recover in the 129-101 loss on the second night of a back-to-back.
Orlando heads to Cleveland on Wednesday for the first of two games added to their regular season schedule after the team failed to reach the knockout rounds of the NBA’s In-Season Tournament.
The Brooklyn Nets have announced the following medical updates.
Ben Simmons (left lower back nerve impingement) is continuing to improve with treatment and has begun light individual court work. Simmons, who has missed the past six games, will have his status updated again in 7-10 days.
Cam Thomas (left ankle sprain) has made significant improvement and has been cleared for increased on-court activity. He is expected to be integrated into team activities next week as he progresses with his return-to-play program. Thomas, who sustained the ankle sprain on Nov. 8, has missed the past five games.
Dennis Smith Jr. underwent an MRI, which confirmed the previous diagnosis of a lower back sprain. Smith, who has missed one game with the injury (Nov. 19 vs. Philadelphia), will continue to receive treatment and is currently listed as day-to-day.
The Brooklyn Nets have exercised the fourth-year team options for center Day’Ron Sharpe and guard Cam Thomas.
Sharpe appeared in 48 games (three starts) during the 2022-23 season and averaged 4.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game. The 21-year-old also played in two contests as a reserve during the 2023 postseason, registering averages of 3.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in 9.8 minutes per game.
Thomas played in 57 games (four starts) last season, averaging 10.6 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 16.6 minutes per contest. The Chesapeake, Va., native saw action in two 2023 postseason games and averaged 3.0 points over 7.8 minutes per game.
The Brooklyn Nets have waived forward Darius Bazley.
Bazley signed with Brooklyn as a free agent on July 16 and played in three preseason games, averaging 5.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 20.1 minutes per contest. Bazley has appeared in 228 regular season games (118 starts) over four seasons (2019-23) with Oklahoma City and Phoenix and holds career averages of 9.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 23.6 minutes per game.
The Brooklyn Nets have signed free agent forward/center Harry Giles III.
Giles III (6’10”, 229) has logged 142 career games (17 starts) over three NBA seasons with the Sacramento Kings (2018-20) and Portland Trail Blazers (2020-21). He holds career averages of 5.9 points on 51.1 percent shooting from the floor, 3.8 rebounds and 1.2 assists across 12.9 minutes per contest. He also made his lone career playoff appearance in 2021 with Portland during a first round series against Denver. The 25-year-old most recently played in three NBA G League Showcase Cup games in 2021 for the Ontario Clippers, averaging 11.7 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 1.0 blocks in 19.4 minutes per game. Giles III was originally selected by the Trail Blazers with the 20th overall pick in the first round of the 2017 NBA Draft before being traded to the Kings on draft night. The Winston-Salem, N.C., native played in 26 games (six starts) during one season (2016-17) at Duke University, where he averaged 3.9 points and 3.8 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per contest and helped lead the Blue Devils to an ACC Tournament Championship.
The NBA Paris Game 2024 will feature the Brooklyn Nets and the Cleveland Cavaliers playing the league’s third regular-season game in Paris at the Accor Arena on Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024.
The NBA Paris Game 2024 will mark the Nets’ second game in Paris, having played a preseason game in the French capital in 2008.
Brooklyn currently features 2021-22 NBA All-Defensive First Team and 2023 USA Basketball Men’s National Team member Mikal Bridges, 2023 USA Basketball Men’s National Team member Cam Johnson and three-time NBA All-Star Ben Simmons. The Nets have made five consecutive playoff appearances.
The Cavaliers will be playing their first game in Europe. Cleveland currently features four-time NBA All-Star Donovan Mitchell, 2022 NBA All-Stars Jarrett Allen and Darius Garland, and 2022-23 Kia NBA All-Defensive First Team member Evan Mobley. The Cavaliers won their first NBA championship in 2016 and made four consecutive NBA Finals appearances from 2015 to 2018.
The NBA Paris Game 2024 will air live on beIN SPORTS and NBA League Pass.
The Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, July 20 signed free agent guard Armoni Brooks to a two-way contract.
Brooks (6’3″, 195) has appeared in 74 games (16 starts) across two seasons with the Houston Rockets (2021-22) and Toronto Raptors (2022), recording career averages of 6.9 points on 36.6 percent shooting from the field, 33.0 percent shooting from 3-point range and 75.8 percent shooting from the free-throw line, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 18.4 minutes per game.
In his rookie season (2021) with the Rockets, Brooks appeared in 20 games (five starts), posting averages of 11.2 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.5 assists in 26.0 minutes per contest while shooting 40.6 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from distance.
The 25-year-old also played in four playoff games with the Raptors during the 2022 postseason.
Most recently, Brooks competed on Brooklyn’s Las Vegas Summer League team, notching averages of 17.8 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals in 29.6 minutes per game through five games while shooting 50.0 percent from the field, 47.6 percent from 3-point range (on 8.4 attempts per game) and 87.5 percent from the free-throw line.
In addition to his NBA experience, the Texas native has logged 88 games of NBA G League experience split between the College Park Skyhawks and Rio Grande Valley Vipers, registering averages of 13.1 points on 44.0 percent shooting from the field, 38.7 percent shooting from distance and 83.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 assists in 24.6 minutes per game.
Brooks went undrafted in the 2019 NBA Draft after spending three years (2016-19) at the University of Houston, where he earned American Athletic Conference Sixth Man of the Year honors as a sophomore and All-AAC Second Team honors as a junior.
The Brooklyn Nets on Tuesday, July 18 waived forward RaiQuan Gray.
Gray was selected 59th overall by Brooklyn in the second round of the 2021 NBA Draft. The Fort Lauderdale, Fla., native signed a two-way deal with the Nets on April 8, 2023. Gray tallied 16 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and a block in 35 minutes in his lone game with Brooklyn on April 9, 2023, against the Philadelphia 76ers. In 44 career NBA G League games (22 starts) with the Long Island Nets, Gray holds averages of 10.0 points, 6.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.1 steals across 25.8 minutes per contest.
The Brooklyn Nets have signed free agent forward Darius Bazley.
Bazley (6’9″, 216) appeared in 43 games (one start) in 2022-23 split between the Oklahoma City Thunder (36 games) and Phoenix Suns (seven games), averaging 5.2 points on a career-high 45.4 percent shooting from the field and a career-high 37.7 percent shooting from 3-point range and 3.2 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game.
Across four NBA seasons with the Thunder (2019-23) and Suns (2023), the 23-year-old Bazley has played in 228 career games (118 starts) and holds averages of 9.1 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists in 23.6 minutes per game while shooting 41.1 percent from the floor, 31.0 percent from distance and 67.3 percent from the free-throw line.
He also competed in seven playoff games as a reserve during the 2020 postseason for Oklahoma City and posted averages of 6.6 points and 6.7 rebounds in 18.0 minutes per game while shooting 41.9 percent from the field, 50.0 percent from 3-point range and 90.0 percent from the free-throw line.
The Cincinnati native was selected with the 23rd overall pick in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft by the Utah Jazz before his draft rights were traded to the Memphis Grizzlies and then to the Thunder.
Bazley earned a selection in the 2018 McDonald’s All-American game and was five-star recruit out of Princeton High School in Ohio.
After graduating, Bazley spent one year participating in an internship with New Balance while training for the NBA Draft.