Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown says Ben Simmons has not yet returned to normal training following a minor procedure in which bone marrow was injected into his injured foot.
Following the procedure - which was undertaken last Monday to stimulate bone growth and healing -- the 76ers issued a press release saying Simmons would resume normal training by the end of the week; but Brown says that is yet to happen.
"I don't know when that week timeline started," Brown said ahead of Philadelphia's clash with Milwaukee. "For me and him it's been more communication and talking about the summer and what we're going to be doing to plan for that more than being on a court doing stuff."
Simmons was initially expected to be sidelined for three months after surgery to repair a Jones fracture in his foot, before talk came of a return just after the All-Star break. But Simmons' dreams of an NBA debut this season were officially put to rest on February 25 due to continued complications in his on-going recovery from surgery.
The news altered the 76ers' timeline for Simmons' return, with the hope now being he'll be healthy enough to play Summer League, perhaps gaining some crucial experience playing alongside Joel Embiid, also.
Brown said that was too far down the line to make a judgement call on with 20 games still to play in the regular season.
"I think that's certainly something we're talking about, but to give a definitive answer, we're not even close to being there yet," he said.
Brown has been vocal about his intentions for Simmons when he does return, believing his unique skill set will be best utilised as a point-forward.
Milwaukee Bucks' head coach Jason Kidd, who has had success with his own 6'11 point-forward Giannis Antetokounmpo, said he can see some parallels between the two prodigious talents, but warned against placing too many expectations on Simmons before he's had a chance to prove himself.
"With Ben's skill set, his basketball I.Q., his feel for making guys better is going to be a plus for them," Kidd said. "Then to have a guy who is 6'8 and plays the point; that can cause a lot of problems [for the opposition]. Hopefully that puts them in a better position to win.
"I think once we can see Ben play then we can make the comparison. Until then, there's not too many guys like Giannis."