Ben Simmons Return Date, Broken Down Logically

The Philadelphia 76ers have been waiting patiently for Ben Simmons to get healthy. When will he return? Let’s look at it with a bit of logic.

It was devastating for Philadelphia 76ers fans this year to see their top overall pick from the 2016 NBA Draft go down with a pretty serious injury. Once the regular season began, Joel Embiid made fans quickly forget about any despair they had, but leading up to the season, fans were depressed that yet another injury had occurred to a young player that would keep them out for an extended period of time.

Since then, Embiid has provided fans with an incredibly positive glimpse of the future. Still, fans are excited about Simmons coming back too, but have next to no idea when that will be for the Sixers. The team has been pretty protective of Simmons’ availability with the media, as well as with what coaches and players can say about his involvement.

On Wednesday, though, the Sixers gave us a bit of new information that may help us pinpoint at least a range of dates that Simmons may return by. Bob Cooney (and other members of the media) reported throughout the day that head coach Brett Brown said there was still no timetable for Simmons’ return, but that he needs five days of five-on-five scrimmage before he’s ready.

Brown also said no timetable for Simmons return. Says he'll need Five days of five-on-five before he's ready. Hasn't done any yet
— Bob Cooney (@BobCooney76) February 8, 2017

This will also mean that by league rules, Simmons will have to be made available to the media five times before he plays a game, because any player that participates in full 5-on-5 scrimmages has to be made available.

With this in mind, when will the Sixers be debuting him? When can five full days of 5-on-5 be?

Situation 1

One would imagine that the team would wait until at least after the All-Star break. With just four games remaining on the schedule before the break commences, it seems logical to assume that the Sixers are going to keep Simmons out from full-contact, taking advantage of the time off as extra rest for his healing (or healed, at this point, possibly) foot.

The first game back from the break is February 24th, and the Sixers have a home-and-away back-to-back. Now, this isn’t confirmed by any sort of source, and is all speculation, but I feel it’s safe to assume that the Sixers will wait until they have a home stretch back from the break to start him on 5-on-5s. The first time the Sixers have a sizable home stand after the All-Star break is March 3rd to March 6th, with three games at the Center over that stretch. The Sixers have a game on March 1st in Miami, so they could return on March 2nd and get going with Simmons.

Assuming the Sixers have practice on March 2nd, they could run him 5-on-5 then, and then again on March 5th, likely when their next practice will be. This gives Simmons some time off in between the first and second 5-on-5 session to ensure everything is good and that full-contact didn’t hurt anything. The Sixers likely won’t practice on March 3rd or 4th because the team has back-to-back games.

At the tail-end of that home stretch (the final game of that stretch is on March 7th) the team could run him in 5-on-5 during practice on March 7th and 8th. Finally, they could take him on their West Coast road trip and run him on 5-on-5 on one of the off days that the team decides to practice. That would be five 5-on-5s, and the team could bring him home and debut him on March 17th against the Dallas Mavericks, or March 19th against the Boston Celtics.

Most likely debut date in this scenario: March 19th

Situation 2

The obvious counterargument to this is that the Sixers may look to get right into things when the All-Star break is over with. Most teams return to practice two days or so before their first game, which would put the Sixers coming back at February 22nd (one day before the trade deadline, for context). They could practice that day, and then again the next day before their first game back. That would be two official 5-on-5 sessions for Simmons if they decided to run him that way.

The third 5-on-5 could be February 26th, if the Sixers practice that day. The fourth and fifth sessions could occur on February 28th and March 2nd. Since I believe that the Sixers aren’t going to put him in 5-on-5 situations in every possible five consecutive practice days (and since we don’t know the team’s practice schedule yet), I’m going to add one extra day to the mix, we’ll assume that’s March 5th.

Must Read: What Restrictions Are Ahead for Ben Simmons?

That would put Simmons’ debut at March 6th at home against the Milwaukee Bucks.

It’s notable that the lengthy West Coast Road trip comes right after that game, so perhaps the team would like to wait until after that in this scenario as well, which would put his debut back up to March 17th.

Most likely debut date in this scenario: March 6th

Other considerations

The other consideration is that Simmons will probably stay in Philly over the break and be working with the team. They could run him in unofficial 5-on-5 sessions over that period. The team did not indicate if it was only official 5-on-5 practices that would count towards Simmons’ necessary five before he can play.

Next: 5 Realistic Ben Simmons Predictions This Season

When can we expect Simmons back?

Don’t expect Simmons to be on the floor playing games until March. February will be fun, but with the All-Star break halting official practices for a bit, it gives the Sixers an easy excuse to be patient with him, which they’ve proven they are willing to do. March is the most likely month for him to debut, but since we don’t know about their practice philosophy with him just yet, it’s hard to tell if its will be early March or mid-March. Really, it’s up for debate.