Boomers bond: Delly praises Kings' Simmons addition

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The bond amongst Boomers is still strong, even if one hasn't represented the green and gold for more than a decade.

Matthew Dellavedova has praised the Sacramento Kings for signing fellow Aussie, and hopefully future teammate, Ben Simmons as he makes a long-awaited return to the NBA after taking last season off recovering from serious back injuries.

As the Kings announced Simmons' signature, on a one-year $3.5 million deal, Delly commented on the team's post on X with the clapping emoji.

Earning a second chance with Sacramento is a significant opportunity for the 30-year-old three-time NBA All-Star after a tumultuous exit from the Philadelphia 76ers before playing sparingly with the Brooklyn Nets, following his trade for James Harden, and then a brief stint with the Los Angeles Clippers.

ESPN's Marc J. Spears told Sactown Sports' The Carmichael Dave Show with Jason Ross Simmons said he believed there was no way he could have played last season but he was "ready to go".

"In the Spring he told me I'm good, I'm ready to go but ultimately you've got to see him play right," Spears said.

"It sounds good but he wasn't playing five-on-five or anything at the time in July, and I don't think teams were interested in July.

"I think what turned it around for the Kings, and I remember talking to Ben about this before he went, was going to play in a mini-camp in Australia. They had a senior national mini-camp, all the NBA guys from Australia were there, and he played extremely well, he dunked on one player and looked good."

Spears also said Simmons was open to a long-term stay at the Kings.

"If they give him the opportunity and he does well, and he wants them back, they want him back, and it’s fair, I think he’d want to stay," he told the show.

The Kings' signing of the first overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft has been a hot topic among league circles with Brian Windhorst and Tim McMahon also discussing the move on ESPN's popular The Hoop Collective podcast.

Windhorst said Simmons was never quite the same player after the 2021 NBA Playoffs while McMahon spoke about how crippling his back injury could have been and recalled how impressive the Melbourne product was in his prime.

"Well, it was a combination of clearly there was some mental blockage. There was some, I don't even know what to say, but some psychological stuff and then the back injury. The back injury plays big a role as anything," he said.

"Because this is a dude who was just an extraordinarily dynamic 6'10", 240 lb athlete and then he just wasn't that same kind of athlete. After he had the back issues and and I'll be honest with you, when the back issues first popped up, I thought it was BS to get his way out of Philly.

"Then he has a surgery and honestly nobody, nobody has back surgery, because like that's a last ditch type of thing and he just never was the same after that and his whole game was was predicated on being one of the most dynamic players athletically that we've seen in a body that big.

"I mean that dude when he was young, I remember him coming through Dallas his rookie year and I still remember he had a put back dunk in traffic, where I was just like I have never seen a point guard do that. Like what I mean just going up in a forest of bodies over everybody catching the ball and throwing it down. I was like 'oh my goodness'.

"Then some of the things he would do defensively, he was one of the only guys in the league who could take Luka (Doncic) one-on-one and and like his odds, realistically like his odds in that matchup."

The pair also asked how Simmons would fit in with the Kings current roster with the guards and forwards the team already has signed.