3 Nets who will be impacted by return of Ben Simmons

After missing 38 straight games due to a lower back nerve impingement, Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons is expected to make his return to action Monday night in a home bout against the Utah Jazz.

With this, optimism of a possible second-half playoff push is now certainly boosted, as his skill set could help improve the overall production of Jacque Vaughn's struggling 18-27 squad moving forward.

Of course, with his insertion back into the lineup, one should expect several Nets players will be affected by his on-court presence in one way or another.

Nets players who will primarily be impacted by return of Ben Simmons

While Simmons was sidelined for the past several months, Brooklyn was forced to experiment with its rotations and personnel, which resulted in turnouts both good and, more often than not, bad.

Now, with him back in the fold, however, the coaching staff will likely be gunning for him to once again serve as a core piece within the team's scheme, which, in turn, is bound to have a significant effect on the rest of the rotation, with a few players, in specific, likely to be more impacted by his reintroduction than others.

3. Cam Thomas

Despite being one of the team's most promising contributors, Cam Thomas' role within the rotation has been incredibly inconsistent throughout the 2023-24 season, but especially over the past couple of months with Simmons sidelined.

A clear misfit within the starting lineup alongside the former All-Star's replacements in Spencer Dinwiddie (more on him later) and Dennis Smith Jr., as all three are score-first offensive talents, recently coach Vaughn opted to pull the 22-year-old from the first-five unit and, instead, have him come off the bench.

As a result, not only did Thomas' production take a serious hit with his demotion but the overall success rate for the Nets took a nose dive, as they've gone a putrid 2-11 when having the third-year guard serve as a reserve option since December 29.

Fortunately for him, with the pass-first Simmons now coming back into the mix one should expect this questionable role shift for the guard to end, as his abilities as a backcourt scoring threat are far superior to that of the team's other options at his position and will be highly complementary alongside their shooting-inept floor general.

Through their six games played together this season, Thomas boasts sensational averages of 29 points while shooting 48.8 percent from the floor with a +5 box plus-minus rating.

With Simmons' table-setting skills now back in the mix, one should expect this type of productivity to present itself yet again, and likely while having Thomas serve as a starter along the way.