Brooklyn Nets superstar Kevin Durant has proven very durable since returning from his torn achilles. Photo: GETTY IMAGES.
Pop quiz: what is the most dysfunctional franchise in the NBA?
The answer is the Los Angeles Lakers, clearly. But the fact that you had to stop and contemplate if it was Brooklyn tells its own story.
A team that promised so much at the beginning of the season ultimately produced very little of substance, beyond so much content for NBA media to feast upon.
The ‘Big Three’ of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden spectacularly failed to deliver. Harden was eventually traded to Philadelphia for a player who is yet to – and may never – suit up in Brooklyn black in Ben Simmons, Kyrie’s ‘Stand Up To The Man’ act submarined the season before it even began and Durant, as brave as he was, couldn’t bail water fast enough to keep the ship from sinking.
Patty Mills was solid – very good in the early stages of the season – but the rest of the supporting cast generally flattered to deceive.
Now there are tough decisions that general manager Sean Marks must contemplate. Does Irving get offered an extension? What is Simmons’ future? How long will KD be able to keep up this level of performance?
Let’s take a look at how this most vital off-season might play out in Brooklyn.
The roster
In retrospect, Brooklyn would have been better off holding on to a disgruntled Harden and trying its luck in the playoffs, given Simmons (who, reports have it, may be ready for game four) failed to play a minute for the franchise. Alas, the Australian theoretical baller and his back/mental issues are Brooklyn’s problem, now.
In theory, Simmons should dovetail perfectly with Durant and Irving at both ends of the court. Simmons’ defensive versatility – he’s oversold as a one-on-one defender, though his team defence is exemplary – could help remedy many of the defensive ills that befall the Nets, whilst on offence he would, for the first time in his life, not have to worry about being the primary offensive creator.
Instead, he could act as a devastating screener/roller/playmaker against defences already compromised by KD and Kyrie.
The merits of Durant and Irving have long been known to even the most casual basketball fan. The questions surrounding the two come when reading between the lines a little.
Even before Irving’s somewhat questionable moral stance caused him to miss more than half the season, the 30-year-old hadn’t played anything close to a full season since suiting up for 72 games in 2017, when he was still a Cavalier.
He’s electric when on the court – perhaps the best ball handler in the NBA and certainly one of the league’s best shot creators – but the sneaking suspicion is that he’s starting to break down a little physically. The Nets will be hoping that essentially taking half a season off helps to reset his body a little.
Speaking of intense workloads, since returning from his torn achilles last season, Durant has averaged around 36 minutes a night through the regular season, amping up to over 41 per game in the playoffs.
Durant turns 34 before the season begins. As much as he’s likely to age gracefully as an athlete, he surely can’t keep up this incredible production for too much longer.
The Nets need to find the right combination of players to put around their mega star and they need to do it immediately.
The Nets supporting cast is deep and talented. It’s also borderline prehistoric.
LaMarcus Aldridge and Goran Dragic are 36, Blake Griffin is the oldest 33-year-old ever to walk the Earth, Mills is also 33, though plays like a younger man, while Seth Curry and Joe Harris – man, did the Nets miss Harris – are on the wrong side of 30.
Of their top eight players in minutes per game, only the 25-year-old Bruce Brown, who may be redundant with Simmons on board, is under 30. Expect 23-year-old defensive dynamo Nic Claxton to finally break into the rotation next season.
There is help on the horizon in Cam Thomas, Day’Ron Sharpe and Kessler Edwards, who are all 21 or younger. None, though, are on Durant’s timeline.
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Team needs
On paper, at least, the ingredients are there for a legitimate championship run.
Durant remains one of the best three basketball players alive, Kyrie is a singular offensive force, Simmons the perfect complement – an east coast Draymond Green. Getting all three of them on the floor at the same time will surely go a long way towards shooting the Nets back towards the top of the conference.
The supporting cast is also, on paper, a great fit.
In Harris, Curry and Mills the Nets employ a trio of elite shooters to space the floor for the superstars. None are defensive aces, but all are clever and competitive. They’re better at that end than a Jordan Poole or Duncan Robinson, for instance.
Bruce Brown has been so impactful that he’s had a role named after him, while Kessler Edwards and Cam Thomas have shown flashes as a defensive stopper and spark plug scorer respectively.
Where the Nets struggled last season – availability of their stars aside – was at the big man positions. Simmons should help here. He’d want to, considering the lack of production the Nets received from their bigs. Aldridge and Griffin gave the team next to nothing. Drummond, acquired alongside Simmons, posted the occasionally gaudy stat line, but his lack of versatility at either end of the floor stifled the Nets’ play.
That’s where Claxton comes in. He’s rail thin, but at 6’11” with a pogo-esque leap, he’s a superb rim defender. He’s also incredibly agile and able to switch onto practically any player in the league and hold his own.
He has been criminally underused by Steve Nash, despite posting per-36 numbers of 15.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and just south of a steal. The team has to change up something at the centre spot. With precious little cap manoeuvrability, letting Claxton sink or swim has to be the direction the Nets take.
The cap sheet
TL; DR: The Nets have less than no cap space.
The deets: The Nets will pay Durant, Irving (assuming he opts in to his player option) and Simmons a grand total of $114,533,145 next season. In other words, just $7.5 million less than the salary cap.
Harris, Curry and Mills (again, he’ll have to opt in to the final year of his deal) will receive a further $33 million with Sharpe and Thomas due a little over $4 million between them on their rookie deals.
In other words, they’re over the cap by about $30 million with just eight players on the books.
That means that the team will have no choice but to re-up their own free agents.
Claxton and Brown are both free agents and will not come cheap. Claxton is unproven in a key role whilst Brown is simultaneously redundant with, and insurance for, Simmons.
Brooklyn holds full Bird rights on both, so money is no object. Drummond, on the other hand, doesn’t have full Bird rights and can be paid a maximum $6.3 million by the Nets. Given their ridiculous luxury tax bill (the Nets paid a total of $226 million in salary and taxes last season), it’s unlikely he’ll be retained.
The draft
Brooklyn holds the Sixers’ pick, number 23, in the upcoming draft. Assuming the team swallows hard and retains Irving, then a plug-and-play big man is surely its priority.
The front office would do backflips if the versatile Nikola Jovic fell to the Nets, though he’s projected to come off the board in the late teens. Jovic’s shooting and passing would allow him to find a role amongst the Nets power trio.
A more realistic option is Arkansas sophomore Jaylin Williams. He’s not super athletic by NBA standards, but is a heady player capable of initiating offence from the elbow. His clever screen setting will help endear him to his more dominant teammates.
He also has a smooth-looking jump shot so should be able to fit in as a roll or pop man off the screen. The range isn’t there right now but in time he projects as a reasonable shooter from range.
Defensively he’s active, energetic and knows how to play angles. In many ways, he’s the modern roleplaying centre. He doesn’t have the potential of some of the other players that should be available in this area of the draft, but he’s more NBA ready than most. That might sway the Nets.
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