Nothing to Panic About in Brooklyn

Everything went wrong for the Brooklyn Nets in their short series against the Boston Celtics. Boston’s defensive scheme worked to perfection. They had the perfect mix of players to guard Durant and Irving. They threw numerous bodies at those two every time they put the ball on the ground. They ran guys like Seth Curry and Patty Mills off the three point line, forcing them to drive to the basket and create; something that is not their strong suit. They forced Nicolas Claxton and Andre Drummond to make their free throws as opposed to giving them easy looks at the rim. The Nets couldn’t get anything to work.

It wasn’t just the struggles on the offensive side that led to defeat. The Nets defense looked horrible, especially late in games. Jayson Tatum was able to get to his spots comfortably without much resistance. Jaylen Brown hunted matchups late in games, often finding a much smaller guard lined up against him, taking full advantage to get downhill and create for himself and for others. Guys like Marcus Smart and Al Horford were able to give big time production in certain games as well. The defense just wasn’t there for the Nets in this series. 

It’s easy to press the panic button after getting swept in the first round of the playoffs when the expectations were to win a title. Here’s why the Nets have no reason to go into panic mode. 

Returning Players

Newly acquired Ben Simmons wasn’t able to make his much anticipated return to the court this year, but he should be ready to go next season. It’s easy to forget how good of a basketball player Simmons is while the media constantly bashes him and acts as if he wasn’t an all star caliber player before he sat out. The last time we saw Simmons wasn’t great. The series against the Hawks a year ago proved that the process wasn’t meant to be completed with Simmons playing alongside Joel Embiid. Many people blame Simmons for losing that series because he refused to shoot the ball which killed their offensive game plan down the stretch in tight games. While Simmons isn’t completely innocent of being too reserved on offense, the real problem was the fit. Simmons’ best position is playing as a screener and creator; similar to the role Draymond Green plays for the Warriors and what Bruce Brown did for Brooklyn this season. Although we don’t have a big sample size, look at a game against the Jazz back in 2021 where Embiid was out of the lineup and Simmons was given the keys to roam free as the starting center and primary screener. He scored a career high 42 points, had 12 assists and grabbed 9 rebounds as well. This is obviously not sustainable, but it gives us a glimpse of how special he can be when put in a position to succeed. 

With the offense mainly centered around Embiid, as it should be, Doc Rivers was unable to find ways to get Simmons in positions that allowed him to be the most productive player he could be. In the playoffs, he almost exclusively put Simmons down on the block in the dunker spot, which took his playmaking ability completely out of the equation and even worse, clogged the paint making it easier to defend Embiid. Having Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant as the main ball handlers and scorers will allow Simmons to play freely as a screener. Expect him to get a ton of minutes as the team’s small-ball center, a position where he doesn’t have to shoot from the perimeter to be effective. 

There’s another returning player for Brooklyn next season who people either forget about or underrate the impact that he can have upon his return to the lineup. Joe Harris is one of the best sharp-shooters in the league, if not the best. In the 2020-2021 season, Harris led the league in three-point percentage, shooting 47.5%. He made the sixth most threes that season while only attempting 444 shots from deep (20th in three point attempts). Harris scored 14.1 points per game, and was a very above average defender. Among players who played more than 35 games for the Nets that season, he led the team in Defensive Rating. Many people forget that he was the team’s starting shooting guard who played a major role for them while healthy. With the additions of Harris and Simmons, the Nets are gaining two starters who they were forced to compete without this year. 

Size

Arguably the biggest problem the Nets had against the Celtics was a lack of size. They often found themselves playing three or even four guard lineups against a Boston team that has size across the board. The problem the Nets had was that they needed to surround Irving and Durant with shooting and scoring in order to allow the offense to score against a stifling defense, but they didn’t have any bigs or wings who could contribute on that end. There were times during the series where they played Irving (6”2), Seth Curry (6”2), Goran Dragic (6”3) and Patty Mills (6”0) all at the same time. That makes Marcus Smart (6”4) the 5th shortest player on the court as the opposing team’s point guard. It’s impossible to win games like that. 

So how do the Nets fix that for next season’s playoffs? It’s easy. Joe Harris (6”6) steps into the starting lineup for Seth Curry, immediately adding four inches at that position. That doesn’t seem like much, but when you play a team like Boston who has Jaylen Brown at the shooting guard position, you will get torched, as they did, with a guy as small as Curry in the lineup. 

Brooklyn will also add Ben Simmons to the lineup who is massive. He is 6”11 and has a crazy long wingspan. He will replace Bruce Brown, who is just 6”4. Although he gave them great minutes as the starting power forward this season, upgrading to a much bigger and better defender in Simmons is undeniably going to help this team’s ability to defend bigger opponents. The important thing to remember is that these guys can produce on offense as well, which allows them to stay in the game and provide defense without compromising the team’s offensive abilities. 

Continuity

How many times did we hear the phrase “If they are healthy and whole come playoff time” with regards to teams like the Nets and Lakers this past year. The Nets weren’t as dysfunctional as Los Angeles, but there is no question you can’t just try to throw it all together in a playoff series and expect to compete. 

Three things ruined this team’s ability to mesh together by the time the playoffs hit. Firstly, Kyrie Irving’s refusal to get vaccinated caused him to miss the first half of the season, and then even once he was back, he was only able to play in road games. That rule is now not applicable and he will be able to participate in all games next season. 

The second problem was Durant’s injury, which hindered the team’s ability to get to know how to play alongside one another since he wasn’t able to play once Irving got back. He only returned to the floor with a few games remaining in the season. Hopefully he will be able to be healthy throughout the season next year. 

The third problem was the big trade. They gave up their starting point guard in Harden who had the ball in his hands for the majority of the possessions in the first half of the season. A move that big completely changes the rhythm of a team’s offense and disrupts all progress made up to that point in the season. They also had to acclimate Curry and Drummond to the team’s scheme as well, which isn’t so simple. 

With that many disruptions to the team’s flow, no one is going to be able to put it all together to face an opponent that was running like a well-oiled machine by the time the playoffs came around. 

Defense

The Nets were the 20th ranked defense in the league according to team Defensive Rating. The biggest problem they had was a lack of established younger role players. They were giving guys like Andre Drummond, LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin a ton of minutes in the regular season. This doesn’t work if you want to get back on defense as evidenced by them allowing 14 fastbreak points per game, which is bad enough to rank 25th in the league. They need to buckle down on defense next year if they want to be serious contenders. 

There’s always an easy solution to improving your defense. Add a guy who is 25 years old, who is 6”11 with a seven foot wingspan, and who can guard all five positions. Simmons is an elite defensive presence. The last time he played he was named to the All-Defensive 1st team and came in second in Defensive Player of the Year voting. There is no question that the Simmons addition alone will immediately make the Nets a much better defensive team. 

It’s not just that the Nets add Simmons to the starting lineup; Bruce Brown moving to the bench is just as important. It allows Brooklyn to have defensive depth. They can now go to their bench and have a defensive playmaker like Brown. He is undersized for the role he plays, but he can guard one through four against most teams and will give great energy in the second unit, which is something that the Nets desperately needed against Boston. 

Andre Drummond and Nicolas Claxton gave great minutes for the Nets, but they aren’t big defensive presences down low. Maybe Brooklyn will look to add a free agent this summer who can defend the paint a little better instead of re-signing Drummond. JaVale McGee, Serge Ibaka and Dwight Howard are three guys to consider as either the new starter or as a backup for the talented young big, Nicolas Claxton.  

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