Ben Simmons may have to lower his expectations if he wants to return to the NBA next season.
Speaking on a Bleacher Report live stream, NBA insider Jake Fischer said teams are currently unwilling to offer Simmons a guaranteed roster spot, with the former All-Star instead likely needing to prove himself during training camp.
"No one's looking to give Ben Simmons a guaranteed roster spot right now. That's just the reality," Fischer said.
According to Fischer, teams would first need to see whether Simmons has regained enough athleticism to consistently compete in a five-on-five environment.
"They would need to actually see him regain this athleticism and see what he actually looks like in a five-on-five setting day after day after day, really competing at the highest level because we just haven't seen that for him for years now," he explained.
Simmons last played in NBA with Clippers
Simmons has not appeared in the NBA since the 2024-25 season, when he split time between the Brooklyn Nets and Los Angeles Clippers.
He finished that season averaging 5.0 points, 4.7 rebounds and 5.6 assists in 22.0 minutes across 51 regular-season games, including 24 starts.
After joining the Clippers, Simmons appeared in 18 regular-season games and averaged 2.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.1 assists in 16.4 minutes per contest.
He also featured sparingly in the playoffs, including seven minutes in Game 4 of the Clippers' first-round series against the Denver Nuggets.
Simmons then missed the entire 2025-26 NBA season. He is now healthy and attempting to work his way back into the league.
He has been practicing without restrictions while taking part in an Australian national-team minicamp.
Training camp invite could be Simmons' path back
Fischer expects Simmons to eventually join an NBA team for training camp this fall, but potentially without any guaranteed salary attached.
"I'm basically expecting Ben Simmons to be in some NBA team's training camp come this fall," Fischer said.
However, he believes Simmons will have to accept a contract structure similar to the one Lonnie Walker IV recently signed with the Denver Nuggets.
Walker agreed to a veteran-minimum contract that could be worth up to $3.9 million if he remains on the roster throughout the season, but the deal is initially non-guaranteed and essentially functions as a training camp invitation.
"Ben Simmons is going to need to be accepting of the fact that it is going to be very similar to what Lonnie Walker just signed in Denver," Fischer said.
"It's completely non-guaranteed. It's a training camp invite."
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Simmons previously rejected similar Knicks opportunity
The biggest question is whether Simmons is now willing to accept those conditions.
Fischer noted that the three-time All-Star had a similar opportunity with the New York Knicks last offseason but ultimately declined it because the contract did not include guaranteed money.
"A year ago, he basically turned down that situation from the Knicks," Fischer said.
"He could have had that exact situation from New York, and the fact that it wasn't guaranteed money was a major reason why he didn't join the Knicks."
That could leave Simmons facing the same decision he was unwilling to make a year ago.
"So will he be willing to take a situation that he wasn't willing to take a year ago?" Fischer added. "That's the big question for Ben Simmons."
Once one of the NBA's most versatile young stars, Simmons has career averages of 13.1 points, 7.4 rebounds and 7.2 assists across 383 regular-season games.