By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Ben Simmons could be looking to resume his career outside the NBA as rumors swirl around his next destination. The 29-year-old free agent, who has 422 NBA games to his name, has not played competitively since finishing the 2024–25 season with the Los Angeles Clippers following years of chronic back injuries.
Many believe a move to the National Basketball League is the ideal path forward for three-time All-Star, including former NBA and NBL champion, Andrew Gaze.
“If he has the desire, then there’s no doubt in my mind, it’s still a guy in his late 20s that he could play at a high level,” he told NBL Media, describing the 2.08-meter point guard as a ‘superstar’ with ‘Magic Johnson type skills’, noting the local competition ‘would be a great platform for him to come back’.
Andrew Gaze on Ben Simmons ⤵ pic.twitter.com/5fpDZycH67
— NBL (@NBL) June 3, 2026
Rebuilding his career in the NBL could additionally pave the way for Simmons to target playing for the senior national team of Australia ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games. Despite winning a gold medal at the 2013 FIBA Oceania Championship with the Boomers at just 17 years old, he withdrew from five subsequent major tournaments, including previous Olympic opportunities, due to injury rehabilitation.
Selected first overall in the 2016 NBA Draft, presented by State Farm, by the Philadelphia 76ers, his initial stardom as the 2018 Kia NBA of the Year eventually gave way to a dramatic playoff fallout. A subsequent blockbuster trade sent him to the Brooklyn Nets, which ended in a contract buyout before a final bench role with the Clippers.
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