Post-Mortem: 2021-22 Brooklyn Nets

[danvato]

i doubt most of the people picking waning would actually have Brooklyn doing worse than 7th seed next season. adding Simmons and Harris along with actually getting a full season of Kyrie and some better role players is easily a top 4 seed in the east. obviously health is the most important thing for them but they're far from waning yet

harris is cooked lol. expecting anything out of him is homer take. you already have ben and kyrie dnps. you cant have bench guys not contributing hes number 1 trade target offseason.

What? How the hell is Harris cooked? He is 30 years old and was shooting 47% from 3 before he got hurt.

[dc]

Yes, the Nets are in better shape if they can actually convince Ben Simmons to play basketball.

As big a punchline as Simmons is, he'd help them by simply taking a load off KD/Kyrie over the course of the season. He'd help their rebounding, defense, passing and transition offense. He could guard Tatum so KD wouldn't have to.

They'd probably have to get creative in end of game situations and he'd probably be taken off the floor in a lot of situations, but he'd absolutely help them over an entire season. Obviously he did squat for them this season.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

i doubt most of the people picking waning would actually have Brooklyn doing worse than 7th seed next season. adding Simmons and Harris along with actually getting a full season of Kyrie and some better role players is easily a top 4 seed in the east. obviously health is the most important thing for them but they're far from waning yet

I think they are comfortably 4-6. But easily Top 4 is a bridge too far for me.

Who you cutting:
Miami
Celtics
Bucks
Philly
.....Maybee Philly if Embiid or Harden decline/hurt themselves flopping.

[TravisScott55]

Ben Simmons is trash and unreliable

[Hello Brooklyn]

i doubt most of the people picking waning would actually have Brooklyn doing worse than 7th seed next season. adding Simmons and Harris along with actually getting a full season of Kyrie and some better role players is easily a top 4 seed in the east. obviously health is the most important thing for them but they're far from waning yet

I think they are comfortably 4-6. But easily Top 4 is a bridge too far for me.

Who you cutting:
Miami
Celtics
Bucks
Philly
.....Maybee Philly if Embiid or Harden decline/hurt themselves flopping.

The Nets were a 2 seed last year.

And a #1 seed this year until the KD injury.

With KD in the lineup they had the best winning percentage in the East.

Yes in the playoffs they get exposed. Because they had no chemistry and injuries to key players.

Lets not act like its impossible for them to win 50+ games.

That would merely be a 6 game improvement from this year in which Harden openly quit causing them to lose 11 in a row, Kyrie barely played and KD got hurt.

Your own Bucks got swept in the 2nd round 2 years ago. Then quickly rebounded and became Champions.

[MartyConlonOnTheRun]

i doubt most of the people picking waning would actually have Brooklyn doing worse than 7th seed next season. adding Simmons and Harris along with actually getting a full season of Kyrie and some better role players is easily a top 4 seed in the east. obviously health is the most important thing for them but they're far from waning yet

I think they are comfortably 4-6. But easily Top 4 is a bridge too far for me.

Who you cutting:
Miami
Celtics
Bucks
Philly
.....Maybee Philly if Embiid or Harden decline/hurt themselves flopping.

The Nets were a 2 seed last year.
And a #1 seed this year until the KD injury.
With KD in the lineup they had the best winning percentage in the East.
Yes in the playoffs they get exposed. Because they had no chemistry and injuries to key players.
Lets not act like its impossible for them to win 50+ games.
That would merely be a 6 game improvement from this year in which Harden openly quit causing them to lose 11 in a row, Kyrie barely played and KD got hurt.
Your own Bucks got swept in the 2nd round 2 years ago. Then quickly rebounded and became Champions.

I think we are closer than you think. I'm not saying they can't be be a 50-win team/Top-4 seed. I took issue with the word easily. I have them 5th with 47-50 in wins. I was more on commentating on the OP underselling the current Top 4 who probably arent going anywhere.

As for prior history, I thought KD/JH/KI of 2 years ago were much better than the proposed KD/BS/KI. They still have 55-60 win potential for sure but I'm not throwing down money on it. KD will be turning 34 before the start of the season and who knows what Simmons and Ky will do this summer.

[Kampuchea]

The Nets need to:
1) Change coach
2) Add Simmons, which I expect him to play next season
3) Fill out the roster with better support players

I am expecting 1 & 2 to happen, 3 will be on the GM. I could see them winning a title next season TBH. It's difficult to put faith in Kyrie and Simmons right now with the mental issues, but to me, it is shaping up to be a redemption type of season for them and they will be locked in.

[hippesthippo]

Kyrie killed their entire season due to pure narcissism. You can try to distribute the blame all you want but, in the end, Kyrie gets 100%.

Lets say Kyrie played all season whats the difference ?
they lost 4-0

Harden is motivated and stays.. That could change quite a bit.

[Perseus1966]

Kyrie killed their entire season due to pure narcissism. You can try to distribute the blame all you want but, in the end, Kyrie gets 100%.

Lets say Kyrie played all season whats the difference ?
they lost 4-0

Harden is motivated and stays.. That could change quite a bit.

Or Claxton hitting 50 % FT ,but...

[payton2kemp]

Imagine the Nets with Dinwiddie/Jarrett Allen/Levert insead of Harden lol they got rid of Dinwiddie because they didn't want to pay him.

[zshawn10]

Nets’ championship hopes hinge on an amicable solution with Irving, whose personal decision not to get vaccinated and unpredictable injury history have left the Nets hesitant, and now, according to a source familiar with the Nets’ thought process, outright unwilling to give him a long-term extension.

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/nets/ny-20220524-hfug5wiemzcalocthifea7p7p4-story.html

[zshawn10]

Read on Twitter

Some notable points from the article:

Author, Kristian Winfield, received a tip last Summer from a source familiar with the inner workings of the Nets roster that Harden was going to leave.

Harden leaving would soon be followed by Kyrie and then ultimately KD, which would presumably set the Nets back down to the bottom of the standings.

If Kyrie leaves outright as an FA, Brooklyn simply doesn’t have the cap space to replace him with another star. This leaves KD with a questionable Simmons and a bunch of role pieces.

KD has reportedly not spoken to the front office since being swept out of the playoffs.

In layman’s terms, if Kyrie walks out on the Nets, it wouldn’t be a surprise if KD becomes frustrated with the team’s ability to put championship talent around him. This was evident last year as 3 of their main FA pieces (Carter, Johnson, Bembry) didn’t even finish the year on the team.

Kyrie’s vaccination decision and unpredictable injury history have left the Nets hesitant, but now, a source familiar with the Nets’ thought process, is saying that Brooklyn could be outright unwilling to offer him a long term extension at all.

The Nets made their bed with this situation and now they have to lay in it… They made the choice to hitch their wagon to Kyrie in 2019 when they signed him, KD, and DeAndre.. Then they surrendered all their cap flexibility in the Harden trade and still have no flexibility to sign FA’s after replacing Harden’s max contract with Simmons’.

That’s the reality the Nets face now. Not the scary reality that is 4 years of Kyrie’s availability or lack there of, but the alternative: coming a half-sized smaller shoe away from a trip to the ECF and potentially the NBA Finals, only to be marked as an unserious franchise shortly after if both Kyrie and KD leave.

For obvious reasons, a 1-year deal from Kyrie’s perspective is unacceptable. A player widely regarded as one of the most skilled in the NBA who has the injury history Irving has would never accept a one year deal. If Kyrie gets hurt, no matter how many games he played consecutively before the injury, he would have no long term security.

This is the part Kyrie needs to reconcile with himself. If he didn’t miss so many games for personal reasons in 2020/21, BKN could’ve seen the vaccination decision as an outlier. But the pattern of unavailability and sense of self over team has been too frequent for the Nets to ignore.

Kyrie has about a month to make a decision on whether he’ll opt into the final year of his contract or test FA.

The teams that could clear enough cap to sign him are not in a position to make any deep playoff runs and this is where the Nets believe they have leverage. But in reality, Kyrie just needs to get creative. Since a team cannot trade a newly acquired summertime FA before Dec 15, Kyrie can sign with a team like Indiana Orlando Portland Detroit or San Antonio, then be re-routed elsewhere while that original team who signed him gets compensated.

If that happens, Kyrie’s $36.5M comes off Brooklyn’s books, but still leaves them with $121M in payroll on a $122M salary cap.

What the Nets cannot ultimately do is let Kyrie walk in Free Agency. Not only will they not have the assets to replace him, but he could ultimately not be the only one to leave Brooklyn when all is said and done. That reality is far worse than any reality where the Nets just stick to their stars and ride it out.

[wco81]

With or without Kyrie, it doesn't seem likely that Nets could be a contender unless Simmons is All-NBA again.

So whether KI leaves and then KD too, is there going to be much difference in their prospects for the next few seasons?

And what would a 33 going on 34 year old KD fetch in a trade?

[Hello Brooklyn]

With or without Kyrie, it doesn't seem likely that Nets could be a contender unless Simmons is All-NBA again.

So whether KI leaves and then KD too, is there going to be much difference in their prospects for the next few seasons?

And what would a 33 going on 34 year old KD fetch in a trade?

Not really sure why the Nets can't be a contender.

Bring back Joe Harris and Simmons. Add some better pieces.

They will still be a very good team with a full season of playing together.

Whats the alternative? Flounder to the bottom of the standings?

[wco81]

With or without Kyrie, it doesn't seem likely that Nets could be a contender unless Simmons is All-NBA again.

So whether KI leaves and then KD too, is there going to be much difference in their prospects for the next few seasons?

And what would a 33 going on 34 year old KD fetch in a trade?

Not really sure why the Nets can't be a contender.

Bring back Joe Harris and Simmons. Add some better pieces.

They will still be a very good team with a full season of playing together.

Whats the alternative? Flounder to the bottom of the standings?

I just think the Celtics have taken a big step. Their core is still young and if they keep Horford for a couple more years (and he can remain effective at his age of course) and Williams doesn't have long-term knee problems, they look like a juggernaut.

Bucks should be tough as well, they have younger stars than the Nets.

So the point is, Celtics are going to keep improving while with KD, you're hoping Father Time doesn't catch up to him. Probably more prone to injuries too. That's what I'm worried about with the Warriors.

Sure a lot depends on Simmons and Harris and the oddsmakers are favoring the Nets too.

We will see. Question is whether they start the rebuild in 2-3 seasons or start thinking about it now. Given Kyrie big money is certainly not without risks. He'll likely be good through the next 4-5 years but will he be good enough?

[Hello Brooklyn]

With or without Kyrie, it doesn't seem likely that Nets could be a contender unless Simmons is All-NBA again.

So whether KI leaves and then KD too, is there going to be much difference in their prospects for the next few seasons?

And what would a 33 going on 34 year old KD fetch in a trade?

Not really sure why the Nets can't be a contender.

Bring back Joe Harris and Simmons. Add some better pieces.

They will still be a very good team with a full season of playing together.

Whats the alternative? Flounder to the bottom of the standings?

I just think the Celtics have taken a big step. Their core is still young and if they keep Horford for a couple more years (and he can remain effective at his age of course) and Williams doesn't have long-term knee problems, they look like a juggernaut.

Bucks should be tough as well, they have younger stars than the Nets.

So the point is, Celtics are going to keep improving while with KD, you're hoping Father Time doesn't catch up to him. Probably more prone to injuries too. That's what I'm worried about with the Warriors.

Sure a lot depends on Simmons and Harris and the oddsmakers are favoring the Nets too.

We will see. Question is whether they start the rebuild in 2-3 seasons or start thinking about it now. Given Kyrie big money is certainly not without risks. He'll likely be good through the next 4-5 years but will he be good enough?

I mean Celtics are good. But I don't really view them as some juggernaut.

And same thing with the Bucks.

The Nets are behind them as of now. But can close the gap with a healthy roster and more continuity.

I don't see how its not worth pursuing when you have three all star level players.

I think with Simmons/Harris the Nets are a completely different team. It improves the defense exponentially.

I don't even see how its worth pursuing a rebuild while Houston has control of the picks.

[wco81]

Well the owners have a lot of money so if they want to give KI a $200 million contract, that's their prerogative.

I think a year ago, it was more conceivable that they'd renew both KI and Harden and the team would be able to contend for the life of KD's contract at least.

But then Harden declined and got out of there and KI didn't play most of the season and wasn't enough, along with KI, to make a deep run.