Ben Simmons released as NBA bomb drops, joins rival team

Ben Simmons has got his wish to be cut free from three years of misery and is set to join an NBA team on the other side of the country.

Ben Simmons is set to complete a move to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Brooklyn Nets on Sunday (AEDT) agreed to a contract buy-out with the Australian, ending his disappointing three-year stay in Brooklyn.

The team requested waivers on Simmons, and the former All-Star is now an unrestricted free agent. It’s uncertain how much money the Nets saved with the buy-out, The New York Post reports.

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Simmons won’t clear waivers until Monday at 5pm, but he reportedly intends to sign with the Los Angeles Clippers, according to ESPN.

If Simmons does indeed sign with the Clippers, he’ll be playing with the man he was traded for two years ago (James Harden) and would make his Barclays Center return on March 28.

The reception from the Nets crowd may be frosty, but Simmons and his camp were complimentary of the organisation.

“Like all things with Brooklyn during Ben’s time there this was handled with the utmost support and class from (general manager) Sean Marks and staff and ownership,” Simmons’ agent Bernie Lee told the Post.

Ben Simmons on the drive. Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images.

“After the trade deadline passed we had a conversation where we mutually agreed to come up with a solution to give Ben the opportunity to seek out a fresh start for himself.

“I would just like to take a second to truly thank Sean Marks, the entire coaching staff and ownership for their partnership for the last few seasons and the incredible amount to which they supported Ben every step of the way.”

It was reported on Saturday Simmons and the Nets were working on a deal which would see Simmons forgoe a portion of his salary.

At the start of the season, a buyout appeared highly unlikely, with Simmons expected not to be willing to give up any portion of his whopping $40.3 million salary.

Simmons was playing the last of his five-year, $177.2 million ($A280m) deal that he originally signed with the 76ers in July 2019.

Injuries – back woes, herniated discs and multiple surgeries – marred his stay in Brooklyn.

Once Harden blindsided the Nets with a trade request in 2023 just days before the trade deadline, Brooklyn sent him to Philadelphia for Simmons.

Simmons missed the rest of that season, and came into this season having played just 57 of the Nets’ 191 games after the trade became official.

Following a second back surgery, Simmons finally began a slow return to at least moderate health this season.

He appeared in 33 of Brooklyn’s 51 games, averaging 6.2 points, 6.9 assists and 5.2 rebounds, serving as the backup point guard first to Dennis Schroder and then to D’Angelo Russell.

Now Simmons could be backing up Harden.

After the buyout, Simmons is free to sign elsewhere. He was linked with the Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland Cavaliers and Western Conference-contending Houston Rockets, but ESPN reported he intends to join the Clippers.

Ben Simmons never got it going in New York. Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images.

“As we just completed the buyout we now have to take a second and consider what is to come next,” Lee told the Post.

s Simmons was set to earn $40.3 million this season, he’s barred from inking with some teams.

Due to a quirk in the CBA, teams that are over the first apron are not permitted to sign a player who is waived and had a pre-existing salary of $12.8 million.

That means that even though Simmons is now an unrestricted free agent, he can’t sign with the defending champion Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets, the Los Angeles Lakers, Milwaukee Bucks, Minnesota Timberwolves, the Knicks or Phoenix Suns.

The buyout will free up a roster spot and also some cap space for Brooklyn, although it’s unclear how much.

Guard Tyrese Martin is on a two-way contract that he has clearly outperformed.

He has never logged a single minute with G League Long Island, and is approaching his game restrictions in the NBA. Brooklyn could conceivably convert him to a standard deal.

— This story originally appeared on The New York Post and has been republished with permission

Originally published as Ben Simmons released as NBA bomb drops, joins rival team