After trading Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets received some good rotation players in return and that allowed them to survive during the rest of the regular season and go to the playoffs where they were eliminated by Philadelphia.
Mikal Bridges was the best player Brooklyn received from the trades and he showed to be capable of assuming a bigger role on offense than the one he had in Phoenix. His usage% rate skyrocketed and yet, he was able to keep the same level of efficiency, becoming a legit all-star caliber player.
Brooklyn’s defense was just average during this span and that was certainly disappointing. Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith all have good reputations on defense, but they weren’t able to turn the Nets into a good defensive team.
2023/24 OUTLOOK:
Brooklyn has been the focus of a lot of drama over the last few seasons and this season won’t be different. It seems like Ben Simmons is healthy and apparently ready to return. Assuming that he is still the same player he once was (something I doubt), Brooklyn will have all the required tools to be one of the best defensive teams in the league. Head coach Jacque Vaughn should also use his players’ versatility to implement a system that doesn’t turn the team into a poor defensive rebounding unit like they were in the last two seasons.
With an athletic Center in Nic Claxton, Brooklyn is built to run with Simmons running the show. The Nets added some rotation players during the offseason (Lonnie Walker IV and Darius Bazley) and they have some good depth to survive a long season. The problem is that they will be quite dependent on Ben Simmons…
