Ben Simmons is reportedly fully recovered from back surgery and ready for the Nets’ training camp

The offseason Ben Simmons hype train is running at full speed again.

Simmons played in 15 games last season with Brooklyn before being shut down to have a partial discectomy (a surgical procedure that removes a piece of herniated disc between the vertebrae), a procedure that is hoped will be a long-term solution to the spinal impingement that has plagued him for years (he has played in 57 games over the last three seasons, since he was last named an All-Star). Simmons has reportedly fully recovered from the surgery, something his trainer Chris Brickley and his agent Bernie Lee have made the announcement, the latter via NBA insider Chris Haynes.

Everything Simmons contains should be taken with not just a grain of salt, but a whole box of Morton’s Kosher salt. We’ve all been there, many times. Simmons not only has to get to training camp healthy, he has to maintain it.

There’s a lot of pressure on Simmons this season, as he enters the final year of the five-year, $177 million extension he signed with Philadelphia in 2019 (he’s making $40.3 million this season). His health and how he plays this season will have a major impact on his next contract — or if there is a next contract. When Simmons played last season, he averaged 6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game on 58.1 percent shooting, and he looks like the Simmons we know: a quality defender who can do just about everything offensively except shoot the jump shot, which limits him significantly.

Expect Simmons’ name to come up in trade talks in Brooklyn — and there will be plenty of chatter about a move from the Nets, as they’re expected to act as sellers — but more as an expiring contract and salary ballast than as a player.

If Simmons wants to be valued more as a player, he’ll have to stay on the field and earn it.