GT: Nets @ Warriors 1/22- 8:30

[Karate Diop]

Clax was special in that 2nd half. If he can just figure out his FT shooting, he'd be dominant and be able to stay on the court.

While I'm on the fence about Ben (who has a higher theoretical ceiling), Clax's play really makes you think Ben should be moved for a 3&D wing who can handle and do stuff off the dribble a bit.

Also Kyrie really stepped it up starting from the 4th Q in the PHX game. He's playing up to level of a true star level top10-15 guy. Need more of that while KD is out and also when he's back.

Joe Harris also is slowly coming around. Seth is frustrating AF tho.

Honestly any trade would have to be a grand slam for me to pull the trigger, what this team needed was continuity and team play, now they we're finally getting it I'd be careful about rocking the boat... Simmons is still a work in progress but he's made significant progress from the start of the year.

[Hello Brooklyn]

What a great win.

Kyrie is elite. And on defense he was great. Idk why people always pretend hes a bad defender. He was shutting down Steph so much that Steph was begging to screen Kyrie off him and get on to Harris just to score in the 4th.

Claxton just keeps getting better honestly. I think he has a ton of room to grow offensively.

If he could just become a 70% FT shooter he would be perfect.

Harris is also looking good again.

O'Neal has been crucial all season.

Now for the bad:

I really think Simmons is a gigantic issue. We made our run in the 4th mostly without him. I've seen our defense look fine without him.

And his offense is just horrific. Even when he drives to the rim he can't ever find a way to score.

And hes a black hole on offense. Teams are now exposing him with KD out. They don't even seriously guard him anymore because they know he will just pass up easy buckets.

Its becoming clear we can't use him in a playoff series. I think the time to trade him is now. I will take whatever sacrifice defensively if we can get more offense.

Claxton is also going to be a huge problem in the playoffs if teams hack him. He is going to have to start making more of them before teams start exploiting it more and more.

[Gooner]

Clax was special in that 2nd half. If he can just figure out his FT shooting, he'd be dominant and be able to stay on the court.

While I'm on the fence about Ben (who has a higher theoretical ceiling), Clax's play really makes you think Ben should be moved for a 3&D wing who can handle and do stuff off the dribble a bit.

Also Kyrie really stepped it up starting from the 4th Q in the PHX game. He's playing up to level of a true star level top10-15 guy. Need more of that while KD is out and also when he's back.

Joe Harris also is slowly coming around. Seth is frustrating AF tho.

With Clax it's not that his shot is the problem, it's how he gets into the shot. That free throw routine is atrocious. He needs to fix that to become one of the best centers in the league.

[Gooner]

What a great win.

Kyrie is elite. And on defense he was great. Idk why people always pretend hes a bad defender. He was shutting down Steph so much that Steph was begging to screen Kyrie off him and get on to Harris just to score in the 4th.

Claxton just keeps getting better honestly. I think he has a ton of room to grow offensively.

If he could just become a 70% FT shooter he would be perfect.

Harris is also looking good again.

O'Neal has been crucial all season.

Now for the bad:

I really think Simmons is a gigantic issue. We made our run in the 4th mostly without him. I've seen our defense look fine without him.

And his offense is just horrific. Even when he drives to the rim he can't ever find a way to score.

And hes a black hole on offense. Teams are now exposing him with KD out. They don't even seriously guard him anymore because they know he will just pass up easy buckets.

Its becoming clear we can't use him in a playoff series. I think the time to trade him is now. I will take whatever sacrifice defensively if we can get more offense.

Claxton is also going to be a huge problem in the playoffs if teams hack him. He is going to have to start making more of them before teams start exploiting it more and more.

Simmons is going to be hard to trade, but I think the best option would be to put him on the bench once KD comes back, and let him run that second unit. Otherwise, you have to sacrifice Joe or Royce.

[Minnamaker]

Love that win. IMO the best part was the 4th quarter offense. We never fell in iso-offense and hero ball. Lots of ball movement and player movenement even in crunch time. That Harris 3 with Watanabe's screen was a beauty. Wish we could play more often like that in the 4th. Ky was great too. Good defense and did not force to score. Instead he trusted his teammates and still put up 12 pts (with 4 assists). Trust your teammates and good things will happen (e.g. O'Neale 3).

That coach's challenge was great as well and I think the turning point of the 4th quarter. Hopefully they can keep it up a little.

[sashaturiaf]

What a great win.

Kyrie is elite. And on defense he was great. Idk why people always pretend hes a bad defender.

That's because 90% of the time he is playing uninspired gambling defense, I don't blame him for it since he needs to conserve his energy and health for offense where he is prodigiously good. We know he can be very pesky 1v1 when he applies himself, and the 2 guys he does it against is Curry and Harden.

Well guess who's up next . God knows we need it.

[sashaturiaf]

What a great win.

Kyrie is elite. And on defense he was great. Idk why people always pretend hes a bad defender. He was shutting down Steph so much that Steph was begging to screen Kyrie off him and get on to Harris just to score in the 4th.

Claxton just keeps getting better honestly. I think he has a ton of room to grow offensively.

If he could just become a 70% FT shooter he would be perfect.

Harris is also looking good again.

O'Neal has been crucial all season.

Now for the bad:

I really think Simmons is a gigantic issue. We made our run in the 4th mostly without him. I've seen our defense look fine without him.

And his offense is just horrific. Even when he drives to the rim he can't ever find a way to score.

And hes a black hole on offense. Teams are now exposing him with KD out. They don't even seriously guard him anymore because they know he will just pass up easy buckets.

Its becoming clear we can't use him in a playoff series. I think the time to trade him is now. I will take whatever sacrifice defensively if we can get more offense.

Claxton is also going to be a huge problem in the playoffs if teams hack him. He is going to have to start making more of them before teams start exploiting it more and more.

Simmons is going to be hard to trade, but I think the best option would be to put him on the bench once KD comes back, and let him run that second unit. Otherwise, you have to sacrifice Joe or Royce.

I'd look at Ben as 20-25 mpg role player with added upside if he gets his full athleticism and confidence back. He's a positive if you view it like that (disregard the salary part, I don't think selling low on Ben is on the radar of the FO so we're stuck with him). He rebounds well, elite at finding guys in transition for 3s and is one of the best 1v1 isolation defenders in the league. He also conserves energy for 7/11 by taking on ballhandling duties and gives us sorely needed size.

That's realistically going to be his actual role in the playoffs, I can't see him playing more than 25 minutes in games that matter in his current state. I'm trying to not view Ben through the lens of what he could be since you'll only be disappointed, rather if he can be a star in his role that's still huge for us.

[Gooner]

What a great win.

Kyrie is elite. And on defense he was great. Idk why people always pretend hes a bad defender. He was shutting down Steph so much that Steph was begging to screen Kyrie off him and get on to Harris just to score in the 4th.

Claxton just keeps getting better honestly. I think he has a ton of room to grow offensively.

If he could just become a 70% FT shooter he would be perfect.

Harris is also looking good again.

O'Neal has been crucial all season.

Now for the bad:

I really think Simmons is a gigantic issue. We made our run in the 4th mostly without him. I've seen our defense look fine without him.

And his offense is just horrific. Even when he drives to the rim he can't ever find a way to score.

And hes a black hole on offense. Teams are now exposing him with KD out. They don't even seriously guard him anymore because they know he will just pass up easy buckets.

Its becoming clear we can't use him in a playoff series. I think the time to trade him is now. I will take whatever sacrifice defensively if we can get more offense.

Claxton is also going to be a huge problem in the playoffs if teams hack him. He is going to have to start making more of them before teams start exploiting it more and more.

Simmons is going to be hard to trade, but I think the best option would be to put him on the bench once KD comes back, and let him run that second unit. Otherwise, you have to sacrifice Joe or Royce.

I'd look at Ben as 20-25 mpg role player with added upside if he gets his full athleticism and confidence back. He's a positive if you view it like that (disregard the salary part, I don't think selling low on Ben is on the radar of the FO so we're stuck with him). He rebounds well, elite at finding guys in transition for 3s and is one of the best 1v1 isolation defenders in the league. He also conserves energy for 7/11 by taking on ballhandling duties and gives us sorely needed size.

That's realistically going to be his actual role in the playoffs, I can't see him playing more than 25 minutes in games that matter in his current state. I'm trying to not view Ben through the lens of what he could be since you'll only be disappointed, rather if he can be a star in his role that's still huge for us.

That's why I think he would be a good fit from the bench. He is not going to play 30 mpg anyway and he definitely won't play much in fourth quarters, so it makes sense from rotational standpoint. Irving, O'Neale, Harris, Durant and Claxton in the starting lineup, Simmons, Curry, Watanabe, Warren come off the bench-to me that's the ideal balance. He would add size and playmaking to the second unit. When this team is healthy, you have Kyrie, Simmons and Claxton going out earlier with KD staying with the second unit, so you lose a lot of playmaking and size at once with that rotation and there are no proper replacements.

[MrDollarBills]

The Nets should legitimately have 3 all stars this year.

[sashaturiaf]

Simmons is going to be hard to trade, but I think the best option would be to put him on the bench once KD comes back, and let him run that second unit. Otherwise, you have to sacrifice Joe or Royce.

I'd look at Ben as 20-25 mpg role player with added upside if he gets his full athleticism and confidence back. He's a positive if you view it like that (disregard the salary part, I don't think selling low on Ben is on the radar of the FO so we're stuck with him). He rebounds well, elite at finding guys in transition for 3s and is one of the best 1v1 isolation defenders in the league. He also conserves energy for 7/11 by taking on ballhandling duties and gives us sorely needed size.

That's realistically going to be his actual role in the playoffs, I can't see him playing more than 25 minutes in games that matter in his current state. I'm trying to not view Ben through the lens of what he could be since you'll only be disappointed, rather if he can be a star in his role that's still huge for us.

That's why I think he would be a good fit from the bench. He is not going to play 30 mpg anyway and he definitely won't play much in fourth quarters, so it makes sense from rotational standpoint. Irving, O'Neale, Harris, Durant and Claxton in the starting lineup, Simmons, Curry, Watanabe, Warren come off the bench-to me that's the ideal balance. He would add size and playmaking to the second unit. When this team is healthy, you have Kyrie, Simmons and Claxton going out earlier with KD staying with the second unit, so you lose a lot of playmaking and size at once with that rotation and there are no proper replacements.

I feel JV has been kind of doing this anyway when KD is healthy as Ben's been starting but generally subbed at around the 6 minute mark. He will then re-enter to start the 2nd with one of Kyrie or KD playing alongside him.

Keeping Ben in the starting lineup is likely a bit of protecting Ben's fragile ego, and a bit of JV prioritising defense to start the game. Hey it's been working.

[sashaturiaf]

The Nets should legitimately have 3 all stars this year.

We probably won't have enough wins to justify 3 all stars but Clax deserves recognition. The number of 5s I'd trade for him I can count on one hand. Guy is dominating out there.

There's 10 guys that are shoe-ins IMO
KD
Kyrie
Embiid
Harden
Giannis
Tatum
Brown
Mitchell
Butler
Trae Young

Clax will be in the next group fighting it out for 2 spots and potential injury spots

Siakam
Randle
Holiday
Jarrett Allen
Bam
Clax
Derozan

I don't like his chances. Nobody wanna see defnese in the all star game

[Gooner]

I'd look at Ben as 20-25 mpg role player with added upside if he gets his full athleticism and confidence back. He's a positive if you view it like that (disregard the salary part, I don't think selling low on Ben is on the radar of the FO so we're stuck with him). He rebounds well, elite at finding guys in transition for 3s and is one of the best 1v1 isolation defenders in the league. He also conserves energy for 7/11 by taking on ballhandling duties and gives us sorely needed size.

That's realistically going to be his actual role in the playoffs, I can't see him playing more than 25 minutes in games that matter in his current state. I'm trying to not view Ben through the lens of what he could be since you'll only be disappointed, rather if he can be a star in his role that's still huge for us.

That's why I think he would be a good fit from the bench. He is not going to play 30 mpg anyway and he definitely won't play much in fourth quarters, so it makes sense from rotational standpoint. Irving, O'Neale, Harris, Durant and Claxton in the starting lineup, Simmons, Curry, Watanabe, Warren come off the bench-to me that's the ideal balance. He would add size and playmaking to the second unit. When this team is healthy, you have Kyrie, Simmons and Claxton going out earlier with KD staying with the second unit, so you lose a lot of playmaking and size at once with that rotation and there are no proper replacements.

I feel JV has been kind of doing this anyway when KD is healthy as Ben's been starting but generally subbed at around the 6 minute mark. He will then re-enter to start the 2nd with one of Kyrie or KD playing alongside him.

Keeping Ben in the starting lineup is likely a bit of protecting Ben's fragile ego, and a bit of JV prioritising defense to start the game. Hey it's been working.

I know, but in my opinon it would be even better if he was subbed on around the 6 minute mark and then you have him with Seth, Yuta, Warren and KD to finish the quarter and then to start the second with Kyrie.

[GTR11]

The Nets should legitimately have 3 all stars this year.

We probably won't have enough wins to justify 3 all stars but Clax deserves recognition. The number of 5s I'd trade for him I can count on one hand. Guy is dominating out there.

There's 10 guys that are shoe-ins IMO
KD
Kyrie
Embiid
Harden
Giannis
Tatum
Brown
Mitchell
Butler
Trae Young

Clax will be in the next group fighting it out for 2 spots and potential injury spots

Siakam
Randle
Holiday
Jarrett Allen
Bam
Clax
Derozan

I don't like his chances. Nobody wanna see defnese in the all star game

Remove Spida and Trea for Garland. Them 2 been mediocre to say least.

Siakam will be sub due to his position. Giannis, KD and Tatum has that locked up.

Biid will start at C.

Garland will start at PG.

1st team -> 2 nd team
Garland - Kyrie
Harden - Spida
Tatum - Siakam
ĶD - Brown
Giannis - ?
Biid - Nic
Mobley been disappointing, he didn't take next step or maintained rookie level. I will guess Randle will be back up at 4. Trea will make a team just because LaMelo has none to say.

WC is given
Curry - CP3
JA - Fox - Booker
Luka - LBJ
Zion - Sabonis
Joker - ? JJJ maybe, stats say he's in DPOY conversation. My eye test say he aint belong there. Lots come from system and good guard play.
Kawhi and PG will be pissed. They not starting due to fan votes, coaches will look at availability and standing. Both missed half of the season.

Just my wild guess here from what i see that being said.

[GTR11]

Wiggins and Klay looked washed. They ain't 100 yet, we lucky to get this one. Props to coaches for playing Ben limited min.

TJ won't be getting paid much. Still has ways to go. Unles somebody be stupid enough to take a gamble. Might cost a job. Not many Jimmy Dolans out there who can eat Fournier salary.

[GTR11]

It will be sad to see SGA miss out All Star game but he just can't stay healthy enough and record aint good enough.

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[Hello Brooklyn]

What a great win.

Kyrie is elite. And on defense he was great. Idk why people always pretend hes a bad defender. He was shutting down Steph so much that Steph was begging to screen Kyrie off him and get on to Harris just to score in the 4th.

Claxton just keeps getting better honestly. I think he has a ton of room to grow offensively.

If he could just become a 70% FT shooter he would be perfect.

Harris is also looking good again.

O'Neal has been crucial all season.

Now for the bad:

I really think Simmons is a gigantic issue. We made our run in the 4th mostly without him. I've seen our defense look fine without him.

And his offense is just horrific. Even when he drives to the rim he can't ever find a way to score.

And hes a black hole on offense. Teams are now exposing him with KD out. They don't even seriously guard him anymore because they know he will just pass up easy buckets.

Its becoming clear we can't use him in a playoff series. I think the time to trade him is now. I will take whatever sacrifice defensively if we can get more offense.

Claxton is also going to be a huge problem in the playoffs if teams hack him. He is going to have to start making more of them before teams start exploiting it more and more.

Simmons is going to be hard to trade, but I think the best option would be to put him on the bench once KD comes back, and let him run that second unit. Otherwise, you have to sacrifice Joe or Royce.

Is that really the long term solution?

Bench player for a max guy?

Unless he can get his offense back he really can't be playing major minutes in a playoff series. Our offense has been horrific without KD in large part due to him.

You need 2 way players in the modern NBA.

I think teams would take a gamble on him. We don't need major assets. Just a good role player that we can actually use in the playoffs.

Simmons needs his own team where he can work his way back to the player he once was.

[3pt_chucker]

Brooklyn chant got going pretty good there.

lol I thought I heard the chant. Pretty cool stuff to see from a "weak fanbase". I was waiting for the commentators to say something about it

They sound really similar but it sounded like the Warriors chant to me?

[Stone]

Jacque Vaughn and the Nets coaching staff deserve an honorable mention, for that game changing decision to challenge that Claxton charge. Had we used the challenge earlier or not used it at that point we could have easily lost this game.

[MGrand15]

I completely disagree on the Ben talk.

He's still providing elite defense and great passing - especially in transition. 2 things we BADLY needed. His impact overall is positive even with some terrible offensive possessions.

Most importantly, he's struggling and teams still can't stop us. We've played some great defenses who have tried to game plan against us and it hasn't worked. Even yesterday without KD, they couldn't slow us down. Ben + Clax have figured out how to play together and that brings our defense to a level we can't reach without him. The fact that he's at HALF his career average in points tells me there's a ton of room for improvement too.

Maybe I'm just an optimistic guy but I think the fact that we can bench him and still be okay is a luxury. Not a sign that he should go.

6'10 guys who can shut down Poole and Donovan Mitchell one night then slow down Giannis and Siakam the next don't grow on trees.

Ben's top 3 most played lineups:

Ben with normal starting lineup: +4.2 NET, Good offense, good defense, improved a ton after a slow start this year

Ben with new starting lineup (no KD, Joe in): +26.8 NET, Good offense, crushing teams on defense, small sample

Ben at center with starters (no Clax, Joe in): +8.8 NET, GREAT offense, good defense, small sample

We still need improvement - especially when teams throw Ty Jerome on Ben - but for now, I feel good. I wouldn't mind a good backup though.

[Hello Brooklyn]

I completely disagree on the Ben talk.

He's still providing elite defense and great passing - especially in transition. 2 things we BADLY needed. His impact overall is positive even with some terrible offensive possessions.

Most importantly, he's struggling and teams still can't stop us. We've played some great defenses who have tried to game plan against us and it hasn't worked. Even yesterday without KD, they couldn't slow us down. Ben + Clax have figured out how to play together and that brings our defense to a level we can't reach without him. The fact that he's at HALF his career average in points tells me there's a ton of room for improvement too.

Maybe I'm just an optimistic guy but I think the fact that we can bench him and still be okay is a luxury. Not a sign that he should go.

6'10 guys who can shut down Poole and Donovan Mitchell one night then slow down Giannis and Siakam the next don't grow on trees.

Ben's top 3 most played lineups:

Ben with normal starting lineup: +4.2 NET, Good offense, good defense, improved a ton after a slow start this year

Ben with new starting lineup (no KD, Joe in): +26.8 NET, Good offense, crushing teams on defense, small sample

Ben at center with starters (no Clax, Joe in): +8.8 NET, GREAT offense, good defense, small sample

We still need improvement - especially when teams throw Ty Jerome on Ben - but for now, I feel good. I wouldn't mind a good backup though.

Yes all that is great. But hes a black hole in terms of scoring.

Teams can stop us. We have been horrible offensively ever since Durant has been out.

Teams are figuring us out. Soon they won't even assign defenders to Simmons and will constantly double team KD or Kyrie.

Simmons basically can't score unless he is wide open near the rim.

Claxton being an elite defender also makes Simmons more expandable.

If you replace the Simmons spot with a decent 3 and D guy who can make FTs. I think we are a better team overall.

No we don't have his elite defense and good passing. But we also don't have to play 4 on 5 or worry about him going to the line all the time.

Hes still young enough and on a long contract to trade.