Just last week I wrote about how the NBA D-League might not be working as it should after Earl Barron got a job with the Milwaukee Bucks after sitting at home all season, but I may have spoke too soon.
According to a source close to the situation, NBA veteran Bobby Simmons has signed a D-League contract and will be claimed by the Reno Bighorns once he clears waivers on Wednesday.
Simmons, a nine-year NBA veteran, began this season with the San Antonio Spurs but was waived after just two games in favor of Chris Quinn and hasn't played professionally since. The 30-year-old wing didn't score in his 16 minutes of action this season.
Surprisingly enough, this won't be Simmons first foray into the D-League as he played for the now-(long)defunct Mobile Revelers during the 2002-2003 season. In 14 D-League games, Simmons averaged 17.1 points and 5.2 rebounds before being called up to the Washington Wizards for the rest of the season.
With the Bighorns, Simmons should feel right at home as former NBA head coach Eric Musselman has assembled a quality lineup of players with NBA experience along with a few players that could eventually play in the NBA as well. Joining Simmons on the wing will be Marcus Landry, Thomas Gardner and Danny Green (all of which played in the NBA last season) with Salim Stoudamire and Patrick O'Bryant also boasting prior NBA experience.
A former Most Improved Player, Simmons probably doesn't have much to prove in the D-League and will more than likely just need to show that he's in shape and can still shoot from the corner until a playoff-bound NBA team calls up his agent and lets him know which city he should meet the team the following night. While he's probably lost a step on the defensive end (as Draft Express even noted in 2008), his veteran experience and ability to hit the corner-three will both be valued down the stretch.
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