The Brooklyn Nets created an absolute mess as both of their players Kyrie Irving and Kevin Duant handed the franchise trade requests. It completely turned over the market as many clubs were involved in making a move for either one of them as they are known and bankable superstars in the league. However, suddenly the management, the owner and the coach alongwith the players met and discussed several things and finally agreed to continue the partnership. Hence the Brooklyn Nets are running it back despite getting swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last season.
It is not only about Kyrie and KD anymore as Ben Simmons has also joined this team and some people feel that they are already a title contender for the upcoming season considering they keep themselves healthy and don’t get into any other controversies which will divert their mind from the game. The trio really needs a season where they are dominating their conference and playing with authority and cohesion. ESPN NBA writer Brian Windhorst feels that it is an absolutely scary lineup as he feels that with Simmons there are so many options. He even suggested a small ball formation with Simmons playing as a center. He however also feels that there are possibilities that it might be a bad year for the Australian coming back to the court after such a long time.
Recently on the ‘Dan Patrick Show’ Windhorst shared his thoughts on how Simmons is one of NBA’s biggest mysteries that should be solved in the upcoming season. He said, “Ben Simmons is one of the great mysteries in the entire NBA. You can tell me that Ben Simmons is gonna get them nothing this year, and I would say that’s possible.”
He then shared a death lineup where they Nets may go small ball with Simmons at center with Joe Harris and Seth Curry coming back in the starting five. While the other two positions will be locked in by Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. He drew examples with the Golden State Warriors death lineup.
“You could also tell me that they’re gonna deploy a lineup with Ben Simmons playing center, Joe Harris and Seth Curry playing shooting positions with Kyrie and Durant, and … you talk about the death lineup the Warriors used to run, that’s the death lineup on steroids. That would be incredible,” Windhorst explained.
Performing and if possible winning the 2023 NBA Championship might be one of the biggest things for the Nets franchise. That would be their first ever NBA Championship. For Durant this will be redemption as he will have a chance to silence people who never misses a chance to criticize him for his rings that he won back during his time at Golden State Warriors. Overall the team looks really strong but it all depends on how they gel and how coach Steve Nash manages to extract the best out of them.
