Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn said the team is ready to "challenge" returning point guard Ben Simmons.

During an appearance on Sirius XM NBA, Vaughn talked about the leadership role he expects that Simmons will assume as he returns from a back injury that limited him to just 42 games in 2022-23.

"You're encouraging him to use some of the muscle memory that he's had and just making plays and being instinctive, playing with pace, things that just come naturally to him. But also challenging him to lead our group if he's going to have the basketball in his hands," Vaughn said. "We're a different team than we were last year, how are we going to get shots? Which shots are acceptable? He has to be cognizant of that in leading our group."

Simmons has been sidelined for a significant portion of his Nets tenure. Even when he suited up for Brooklyn in 2022-23, was not the same All-NBA caliber player he was in 2019-20, averaging 6.9 points, 6.3 rebounds and 6.1 assists across the 42 games.

These marks are significantly down from his career averages of 14.7 points, 7.8 rebounds and 7.5 assists but the back injury was likely a huge contributor to the poor play. A revitalized Simmons could provide a huge jump to a Nets team that continues to struggle to surpass the opening round of the NBA playoffs.

In a conference with several star-studded teams, Brooklyn needs Simmons to live up to his previous abilities in order to compete. While Vaughn expressed caution as well, noting in the interview that it had been seven months since Simmons had played a regular season game, his challenge shows that the team expects Simmons to return to the caliber of play that netted him three All-Star selections.