Can The Brooklyn Nets Fix This Mess?

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CAN THE BROOKLYN NETS FIX THIS MESS?

With the Brooklyn Nets recently being swept--and being the only team to get swept in this 2022 postseason at that-- despite having high hopes of contention this season, and with Kyrie Irving's free agent situation in the air it has been the mess that is the Nets as the talk of the town. And for good reason, as they are probably the team with the most to prove going into next season. With them having so many questions and rumors going into next season, the how to as in how to make all this work for Brooklyn to really be contenders is very interesting. 
















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KYRIE IRVING HAS MUCH TO PROVE 


To put Kyrie Irvings Nets' tenure in one word, it'd be "absence".  Whether it be injury or recently his situation with the COVID-19 mandate, majority of his time in Brooklyn has conflicted with being able to play. While I understand and do not blame Irving for refusing to get the vaccine, his love for basketball has been questioned lately. Simply put it, the best ability is availability nowadays. And with Kyrie Irving and the Nets currently at a dead end in contract negotiations, I understand both sides. For Brooklyn, Kyrie Irving has not been able to be fully healthy and also still has his vaccine situation glooming. As they should, the Nets are hesitant to give Irving a longterm extension. As great of a player Kyrie is, a max extension would not be easy to give up with his injury history and track record of missing games due to personal reasons. On the other hand, Kyrie Irving is the reason Kevin Durant is a Brooklyn Net. KD is obviously the franchise cornerstone. So--and reportedly as well-- Irving is using that as leverage to get a contract extension. That is as most leverage as he is going to get at the moment. Playing just 20 games his first year in Brooklyn, 54 the second, and 29 this past season, I believe the Nets will offer Irving a contract that would become a max contact with the incentive if he plays a certain amount of games. Which is Brooklyn's best bet at the moment. If Kyrie is not a net, KD likely will not want to be either, putting Brooklyn in a very awkward situation. Despite all the random rumors of Kyrie Irving being linked to the Lakers, Brooklyn would rather keep Irving than to trade him as you are likely not getting equal return value. Especially with reports of Kevin Durant not recruiting any other free agents this offseason, the main focus at the moment looks to be retaining Kyrie.
















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BEN SIMMONS

Brooklyn has Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons on the same team. It's hard to be a contending team when two of your three best players are getting questioned for their love for the game of basketball. To date, it has been hard to defend Ben Simmons. Simmons probably has the most to prove next season out of any basketball player in the world. To sit out an entire season to then get traded then having to go through conditioning since you chose to sit out all season, ultimately getting back injury causing him to miss the entire postseason. Dating back to his high school and LSU days, Simmons has a track record of "quitting" on his team and giving up once any adversity hits and times get tough. As the case for basketball and anything in life really, getting the job done is 90% mental. The biggest thing for Ben Simmons right now is to have some accountability and maturity. There is no proof Ben is a good teammate. So far, it has been an already talented player oozing with potential to be a great player. At the very least, Simmons could be a billion times better off the court, how he carries himself, and his intangibles. Ben was traded for James Harden. He hated Philly so much-- and I don't blame him for wanting out in a place like Philly-- but he has to prove he can be available to play and at a high level, he can be a guy to not quit on his team, he can be a guy to be considered a great teammate and thought highly of, and to be a guy to push and fight against adversity, not disappear. I'm not even going to say or get into Simmons needing to be some at least average shooter, he firstly needs to care about the game of basketball first and want to be better. 













KD HAS TO LEAD

KD and his love for basketball is one thing that should never be questioned. But, KD has a leader has always been questioned since his Oklahoma days. To say the least, this Brooklyn team needs a form of leadership, while KD is often the type to lead by example, with this roster and how it is looking right now he is going to have to do more. Less attention paid to the media and Twitter who hold no value, and more into the team and off the court things such as team chemistry and accountability. With the Warriors just winning another championship, KD has to want to win one without them even more than he already had prior. Seeing all the problems and drama Brooklyn had last season, KD has to just want the next season to at least be as drama free as possible. Brooklyn was a hot mess this past season, with too much going on. Facing a defensive unit such as Boston, several reasons went on to them not being able to beat the eventual Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics.











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TEAM CONTRUCTION

A huge point of emphasis for Brooklyn this offseason should be building an unselfish team full of good morale ready to play players who can fit multiple roles. As Nets GM said:

 “We’re looking for guys that want to be a part of something bigger than themselves, play team basketball and be available,” Net GM Sean Marks said in May. “That goes not only for Kyrie but everybody here.”


the Nets will need to prioritize unselfish players this offseason. Another huge point of emphasis will need to be getting a wing with size. Now, they should have Joe Harris healthy next season, along with Ben Simmons who can guard wings, but Brooklyn will need to make sure to never play the three guard lineups of Kyrie, Patty Mills, and Dragic with at times Bruce Brown at power forward as that often got killed on defense every game. Another privatization should be a defensive center especially if they lose Nicholas Claxton this offseason. As far as assets goes Brooklyn does have a pick this year I believe, young guys like Cam Thomas, and Joe Harris' contract if they wanted to get something done role player wise. If they wanted to buy in on the KD Kyrie duo they really could trade Simmons for high level role players as well probably. But, we shall see. At the very least on paper wise the Nets have Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, and Joe Harris returning next year. However they fill out the rest of the roster to mesh with those core guys is up to them but it will be very important to put them in a position to win. 

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