After setting Ben Simmons free (following months of insisting they wouldn't do so), the Brooklyn Nets created a massive void at the point guard position. Simmons assumed the full-time role after the franchise dealt Dennis Schroder back in December,

Ben Simmons has been waived by the Brooklyn Nets after the team agreed to a buyout with the last remaining link to a failed era of building around All-Stars.

There were plenty of times when Ben Simmons’ colossal disappointment of a Nets tenure seemed as if it could be over: back in March 2023, when a nerve impingement in his back and knee problems led to him being shut down; one year later, when his season ended again due to a nerve impingement.