Not everyone is sure Ben Simmons has put on so much muscle in the off-season

DANTE Exum thinks Ben Simmons is telling porkies, while the Bucks’ practice week has been interesting for Thon Maker and Matthew Dellavedova.

Simmons claims to have bulked up.

WITH less than a month to go until the start of the NBA season, Aussie basketball fans can’t wait to see how rookies Ben Simmons, Thon Maker and Dante Exum impress themselves on the American stage.

Well, technically, Exum isn’t a rookie, but after more than a year on the sidelines with a serious knee injury, 2016/2017 is looming as his second coming. The Utah Jazz guard tore his anterior cruciate ligament playing for Australia in mid-2015 after finishing his debut NBA season, but is confident he’s fully recovered and prepped for the upcoming campaign.

The 2014 No. 5 Draft pick trained with his teammates at Utah’s first official workout this week, and while he rolled out some cliches to reporters, you can excuse him because they’re no doubt 100 per cent true for someone whose career has been cruelled by injury.

“I was just excited to get back out there,” Exum said. “I was feeling good. I was just ready to come out there, talk when I can and run between every drill.

“It was a comfort zone being out there. I’m comfortable being out on the floor with my teammates.”

As happy as the 21-year-old is right now, there’s bound to be some nerves come October 25 when the Jazz play the Portland Trail Blazers in their season-opener.

He’s optimistic his knee will hold up, but as you often get with athletes who have spent serious time out of any sport with fitness issues, he’s got every intention of cherishing whatever game time he gets.

Exum is just keen to try this out again.

“It’s just about trusting yourself for that first time (with the knee),” he said. “After that first time, you just keep going from there.

“I want to stay on the floor, that’s my biggest thing (personally). Being out for that long, you kind of get an appreciation for how much you need to be in the training room and prepare your body for each game. I think my biggest goal is making sure I stay on the court and do everything in the training room that I need to accomplish that.”

Exum reckons he’s added 4.5kg of muscle to his frame over the past 12 months, but that’s nothing on what fellow Aussie Ben Simmons claims to have achieved.

The Philadelphia 76ers snared Simmons as the No. 1 Draft selection in June, and the 20-year-old has reportedly been busy in the gym. At the 76ers media day this week, he revealed he’s tipping the scales at around 113kg — 15kg heavier than he was when he was drafted.

“I’m a lot stronger,” Simmons said. “Physically just being out there, guys are a lot stronger than in college, but I’m also a lot stronger than I was in college, so it’s just about taking hits and bumps or whatever it is and finishing at the rim.”

But Exum isn’t having a bar of it.

He took a lighthearted jab at his countryman when told of Simmons’ boast. “Oh no. C’mon Ben. C’mon Ben.”

Ben Simmons told reporters in Philly he'd gone from 217 to 250 pounds. Danté Exum, up about 10lbs, wasn't buying it. https://t.co/oDV4BAfsId

— Aaron Falk (@aaronfalk) September 27, 2016

Philadelphia coach Brett Brown said recently he was expecting Simmons to spend most of his time on the court as a power forward rather than in his customary point guard position.

“There are a few questions that aren’t going to go away and that’s one of them,” said Brown, when asked if he planned on using Simmons as the team’s point guard this season.

“I feel like if the season started tomorrow I’d put him where I’ve been saying he’s going to play — a four man. He’ll be a trailing four.”

The 76ers can’t wait to unleash their new prodigy.

While the news is positive for Exum and Simmons, it’s not the same story for Thon Maker. The 19-year-old was sent home after injuring his right wrist during his first pre-season practice session with the Milwaukee Bucks.

But it’s not expected to be too serious. According to reports, the 2.16m giant had scans on the injury and will likely rejoin camp on Friday.

In one of the shocks of the Draft, Sudanese-born Maker went at pick 10 despite having never played college ball. An impressive Summer League suggests the Bucks would have been happy with their gamble.

Bucks teammate Matthew Dellavedova trained with the starters in the side’s first official scrimmage as he and his comrades were tutored by NBA legend John Stockton.

The famous point guard is the NBA’s all-time leader for assists (with almost 16,000) and formed a dynamic partnership with Karl Malone in his 19 seasons with the Utah Jazz.

So often a fill-in man during his time with the Cleveland Cavaliers, coach Jason Kidd has given every indication “Delly” will be Milwaukee’s starting point guard when the season kicks off.

The Bucks Point Guards learn from THE POINT GUARD. #OwnTheFuture pic.twitter.com/i5vSSIzSZy

— Milwaukee Bucks (@Bucks) September 28, 2016