The Nets have made all their big decisions, trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, then extending coach Jacque Vaughn and keeping GM Sean Marks.
Now comes the remainder: Filling in the remainder of the image. That’s what they’ll spend the remainder of this season and into the offseason doing.
Asset allocation
A source described Marks and Nets team owner Joe Tsai as being “in lockstep.” One other told The Post that “ownership has full confidence in that front office to construct for the long run.” With 15 games left within the regular-season — and an undetermined amount within the postseason — Brooklyn might be weighing how you can attack that future.
Unlike the primary time Marks rebuilt — bereft of draft picks — now the Nets are armed with the fourth-most draft capital from 2023-29: A complete of 11 first-round picks and eight second-rounders, in addition to a team-record $18.1 million trade exception, currently the largest within the league.
How will the Nets use all those assets?
The remainder of this season should inform exactly what they need, the fee of getting it and the timeline for acquiring it.
The Nets are assuredly not making all those draft selections themselves, but would they use picks, the trade exception, current players, etc. to get back out there for a star as soon as this summer?
Constructing Bridges
The non-negotiable centerpiece of the Durant trade — the one the Suns refused to budge on last summer — was Mikal Bridges.
“He’s the last word competitor,” Vaughn said. “I really like that piece about him. He plays each night. He’s very unselfish. He gives of his time, of his knowledge within the locker room, throughout the games. It’s really been a joy to be around him and learn him as a person.”
Sources have said the Nets are “pleasantly surprised” with how Bridges has elevated his game. He’s also an ironman, having not missed a single game since his junior season — in highschool. That, plus his infectious personality, makes him a constructing block. But the best way he’s leveled up his offense is essentially the most encouraging sign for what he may be for the Nets.
As Vaughn and the coaching staff have learned what Bridges can do, they’ve baked in some mid-range looks on the elbow for him the identical way they did for Durant, analytics be damned.
The outcomes have been impressive.
Bridges was averaging 25.5 points on white-hot 52.6/48.1/92.2 shooting splits entering Thursday’s Milwaukee tilt, the primary player in NBA history to attain 25 points on 50/40/90 shooting splits through his first 10 games with a latest team.
He’s seen his usage rate skyrocket, and Brooklyn has even used him as a primary ballhandler, letting him play-make together with point guard Spencer Dinwiddie.
“They don’t use this term for basketball, but [Bridges] is a five-tool kind of basketball player, where he does just a bit little bit of every thing,” Joe Harris said. “Offensively, he can definitely carry the load for us. But he at all times makes the correct play, too; if he’s not getting the bucket for himself, he’s making a play for someone else.”
Vaughn & Co. must proceed to search out one of the best ways to maximise Bridges. And the Nets must keep developing him right into a player who can come into next season with a legitimate likelihood at being an All-Star.
Keepers?
In a wing’s league, the Nets not only start three — Bridges, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith — but have Harris, Royce O’Neale, Yuta Watanabe (and Ben Simmons) coming off their bench. They’ll field a bunch of offers this summer, and may have to determine who to maneuver to balance out their needs at guard and center.
And while Brooklyn doesn’t must worry about Irving’s free agency, they still have various calls to make on that front, too, starting with Johnson.
Set to be a restricted free agent, Johnson already turned down 4 years and $72 million from the Suns. But his tight relationship with Bridges, positional value and standing as a part of the Durant deal make him hard to let escape.
A 6-foot-8 wing who can shoot 40 percent from deep with solid defense will command top dollar. Sources say his floor is $18 million annually, and will easily top $20 million. And with a latest leaguewide TV deal kicking in after 2024-25, it’ll make the tip of Johnson’s contract a smaller cut of regardless of the salary cap becomes.
“I’ve said this — because this was a subject of dialogue after I didn’t sign the extension — that I’m still under contract at this moment,” Johnson told the Post. “I still had that 12 months; I still have the remainder of this 12 months. And my goal right away is to win games and make a playoff push.”
After Marks signed 4 restricted free agents to supply sheets from July 2016 to July 2017, only to see each one matched by their teams — Tyler Johnson (4 years, $50 million), Allan Crabbe (4 years, $75 million), Donatas Motiejunas (4 years, $37 million) and Otto Porter Jr. (4 years, $106 million) — could someone turn the tables with an enormous run at Johnson?
Meanwhile, Watanabe and Seth Curry are each unrestricted free agents. O’Neale ($9.5 million) –—who leads the Nets in total minutes played this season — and Edmond Sumner ($2.2 million) are each partially guaranteed for next season.
And that doesn’t include Nerlens Noel, signed this week to a 10-day contract. With Simmons, who’d been serving as center Nic Claxton’s backup, out with knee and back injuries (more on that later), Brooklyn felt a have to add some more size.
The Nets can only sign Noel to 2 consecutive 10-day deals before they must make a call whether to maintain him. Meaning seeing as much of him as possible now, because Day’Ron Sharpe, now in his second 12 months, hasn’t appeared ready for prime time yet.
“I would like to see could Nerlens play in a basketball game and contribute and give you the chance to choose up what we’re doing as a bunch,” Vaughn said. “Also see his quickness if he can protect the rim. So I needed to see that … so I made a decision to make use of certainly one of those 10 days pretty quickly to see what he was going to present us.”
Vaughn and Marks must discover a reliable backup center, and want to search out out if Noel has a likelihood to be that.
The defenders
Brooklyn can use the ultimate weeks to determine how they need (need?) to defend.
For the past few years they’ve not only switched greater than any team within the league, but more completely. They’ve switched one-through-five to benefit from Claxton’s versatility and talent to defend guards on the perimeter.
But he’s the one starter left from before the Durant and Irving trades. With 4 latest faces more accustomed to playing traditional drop coverage, Vaughn has tried to alter on the fly. Now he’s attempting multiple defensive looks, sometimes going drop, zone or switching one-through-five, and others one-through-four.
“It’s all a component of the sport,” Claxton said. “If I say I would like to be Defensive Player of the Yr, I would like to give you the chance to be effective in any coverage.”
“It’s just credit to the coaches, putting us into situations and teaching us and learning, and clearly the fellows being able to adjust,” Bridges said. “We’ve just got multiple defenses, and clearly the drop is something latest, but coach has got us right and now we have the fellows to lock in and wanting to win, so that they’re willing to do whatever and to learn fast. It’s great.”
Ben’s back
As mentioned earlier, the Nets have loads of assets to exit and pursue a legitimate scorer or potential star. Possibly a player in his mid-20s with top overall pick pedigree and All-Star production already under his belt.
Where could they ever discover a player like that? And what would it not take to get him in a Nets uniform?
Look on the tip of their bench. And whatever it takes to get Simmons right.
Simmons missed his 24th game of the season Thursday in Milwaukee, and his eighth straight with knee and back woes. An MRI revealed back inflammation, and he hasn’t played since before the All-Star break. It will be good to see him play this season, however it’s vital to see him playing well next season, by any means needed.
“We would like Ben back when he’s able to being back for us,” Vaughn said. “The day-to-day thing, that’s only for me to say some term to you guys. When the back gets higher, and when the knee gets higher, then he’ll be with us.”
Simmons averaged 14.3 points and 6.0 win shares in his last 76ers season. To date this season, he’s at 6.9 ppg with just 2.3 win shares, and no guarantee of playing again in 2022-23. But with $78 million owed over the following two seasons, spending the following few months getting him right for 2023-24 and beyond must be a top priority.
