Nets' Ben Simmons showing improvement but has been plagued by fouls and turnovers

Sitting at the podium inside the Hospital for Special Surgery Training Center in the early afternoon of Sept. 30, Ben Simmons proclaimed he was fully healthy and finally able to help the Nets win games.

But in the next breath, the point forward added that it would take time and would be a process instead of something that happened instantaneously.

He was prescient.

Entering the first home back-to-back of the 2024-25 season against the Pistons on Sunday and the high-octane Grizzlies on Monday, Simmons leads the team in turnovers per game (3.4) and fouls per game (4.4).

“Making mistakes, lots of turnovers,” Simmons said after the Nets’ 120-112 win over the Bulls on Friday night at Barclays Center.

In that game, he had three turnovers and committed three fouls in 26 minutes. But he also contributed eight points, eight rebounds and 11 assists.

So how would he assess his play over the course of five games?

“Turning the ball over for me, I look at it as a negative and a positive,” Simmons said. “Obviously, you don’t [want to] turn the ball over, but you learn from your mistakes, and hopefully I continue to do that the more games I get, the more reps I get with these guys.”

And the fouling?

Part of that, he said, is a matter of on-the-job training. He also pointed to shifting responsibilities.

Under coach Jordi Fernandez’s system, Simmons and Dennis Schroder are starting along with Cam Thomas, Cameron Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith.

Although Simmons and Schroder are point guards, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2016 draft often guards opposing forwards and centers because of his 6-10, 240-pound frame. But as games have evolved, Fernandez has asked Simmons to switch on to guards.

“I mean, just trying not to be too physical and knowing when I can be and when I can’t,” Simmons said. “This is the NBA, guys are [going to] score, but just trying to make it difficult for guys [while] still keeping that intensity. I think it’s a little different when you start on a physical guy [at the center position] and then you switch on to a guard; just being mindful of that.”

All are fair points. As is the argument Fernandez made before Friday’s win over the Bulls: All fouls are not created equal. In Simmons’ case, Fernandez believes his fouls are a matter of aggressiveness.

“Yeah, I’m very happy the way he competed and especially that last foul picking up full court and contesting, I think it was [Memphis forward Jake] LaRavia in front of our bench,” Fernandez said.

“He’s embracing physicality and right now, yes, we’re fouling a lot, but we’ll live with it. We’ll keep getting there as a group. That second half with only nine free throws allowed and our physicality being there 100%. That’s who we want to be.”