That does mean they will need Nic Claxton to step up at center.
The Nets did not bring back most of the veterans – LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin and Andre Drummond – that could not win a game in the postseason, but they needed to move on. Cam Thomas heads into just his second season looking like a reliable scorer. Patty Mills played well even in a disappointing season for the team. Seth Curry brings the same range shooting (also 43.9 percent in his career).
#Elsewhere brooklyn full
The Nets also like to point out that Joe Harris and his career 43.9 percent 3-point shooting (47.5 percent in his last full season), will be back and can bring what they would need most on the floor with Simmons and Irving. Solomon: Watching Federer left indelible imprint on memory bank His playmaking and defense can elevate a team with the Nets’ weapons. But the Nets can still score easily without Simmons' shooting. He is coming off back surgery and did not play at all last season. If Ben Simmons, the key to the haul brought back when the Nets sent Harden to Philadelphia, gets back to his Sixers best, he could be a nice fit with Durant and Irving. The Nets were swept out of the postseason, but Irving remains among the league’s most irrepressible offensive talents. The Nets could find that they are shopping a rare Bugatti worth an untold fortune but with few buyers able to meet a fair price.ĭurant also might find he can win more with the Nets than elsewhere, especially if another team must give up a star and more to get him. But the Rockets used their best asset to restock their shelves of picks, an option that the Nets could consider, too). Similarly, the Nets could be hesitant to start from scratch since they owe so many first-round picks elsewhere, as with the Rockets and their draft pick debt to the Thunder. (The Rockets tried to talk themselves into that logic with Harden, only to relent and deal him to the Nets nine games into the 2020-21 season. The Nets understandably could be determined to hold on to him at least until they get offered that rich a return.īut if he does get to camp and things fall into place, the Nets could be back on a contending level, which could convince him to stick around. With four seasons left on his contract and talent that remains on an MVP level, Durant should bring record-setting trade treasures. Other teams seem to be showing they will let the Nets take that chance.Ī month since word spread that Durant wants out for reasons that he has not shared publicly despite his social media skills, the stalemate seems headed for a breaking point. Rather than coming up with a deal to move Durant, they seem to prefer to show teams they are willing to bring him to camp and put up with whatever displeasure he might have with still being in Brooklyn. Before they can get too far into the latest effort to be the super team they thought they’d become when pairing Durant with Kyrie Irving – and adding James Harden for a brief time – the Nets seem to be playing chicken. His desire to move on again has thrown the Nets’ future and chances into a state of limbo. Kevin Durant is that enormously important to any team he joins, at three and counting. The one certainty in Brooklyn is little can be considered certain. Or they might belong somewhere much worse. The Nets could deserve a much better ranking. So long: C/F LaMarcus Aldridge, G Bruce Brown, G Goran Dragic, C Andre Drummond, G David Duke Jr., F Blake Griffin. Welcome back: C Nic Claxton, F Kessler Edwards, G Patty Mills. Warren (free agent), G Edmond Sumner (free agent), G Alondes Williams (two-way contract). The countdown of the teams expected to make the playoffs (no play-in): 8. The Jazz’s rush to emulate the rebuilding process of the Thunder and Rockets has not got around to a deal to ship out Donovan Mitchell, but that could happen, too.įor now, with enough complete, it seems time to consider the way the deals that have been completed have changed the NBA power structure, from the champion Warriors’ changing out role players to the runner-up Celtics bringing in reinforcements to the annual Lakers’ drama in an effort to keep up with the resurgent team down the hall. Russell Westbrook is still in Los Angeles, though the Lakers perhaps would prefer if he was not. With summer league complete and front offices generally heading to beaches and golf courses – albeit with cell phones at the ready – things generally get quiet.īut Kevin Durant is still with the Brooklyn Nets, though he would rather not be.
#Elsewhere brooklyn free
The draft came and went, followed by the usual free agency transformation of rosters, along with a healthy number of trades. The predraft process, complete with its trade talks and roster decisions, ended. This is normally the slow period and still could be.