moving forward, I see them being anywhere from Orlando/Washington caliber (not awful, but not that good either) to overachieving in the regular season like the 18-19 Nets and post-Melo Nuggets they have some pretty good role players in Dinwiddie, Claxton, Bridges, Cam, and DFS…Cam Thomas can get buckets they also have a ton of picks they can use to improve their roster seeing how they don’t have an incentive to tank or completely bottom out…I’m not sure what their cap situation is like now now if they still had Steve Nash, they’d be in contention for a top 5 pick for sure
I don't always agree with OP but this NETS team is not going to be terrible, they are a .500% to maybe a handful of games over .500% assuming they keep this group together. There are some players on the NETS that will get an opportunity for bigger roles and will surprise. Cam Thomas is going to score 25 points a night, possibly more. Bridges is capable of doing more than he did in Phoenix, and will get a chance now. I know a lot of Rockets fans were happy that Kyrie and KD were traded.... but really, that is NOT good for the Rockets. The best bet for the Rockets was for Kyrie to leave and KD to break down, and instead the NETS sold on KD and got a pretty nice return. I would say that the NETS would move guys like Bridges and Cam Johnson and Finney-Smith, but they have zero incentive to tank with the Rockets owning their picks. I don't know that the NETS would do it, but the Rockets getting Bridges or Johnson for part of the NETS picks may help both teams. God knows the Rockets need more players that are winners, hard workers (Bridges) or actually good people (Johnson) to help cover up the stink of KPJ and the boys.
it all depends if the nets go into a full rebuild or not. They'll still likely be in the playoffs this year because they actually have a solid team with plenty of rotational guys who are proven. How they trim the roster and what they want to replace them with will determine how good of a team they can be. full rebuild, they'll stink just like the rockets, orlando etc.
The NETS right now are better than the BULLS. You have to defend in this league, especially in the highly competitive Eastern Conference... it is why the Hawks struggle too. Don't sleep on players like Johnson, Bridges, Finney-Smith.... and Cam Thomas will be an elite scorer not having to defend at all with so many good defenders around him.
They have some guys that are winners, that do the small things that win ball games.... you couple that with depth and hustle, and you can beat teams in an 82 game schedule. They already have an elite scorer (not player) on their roster that can easily average 25 a night with this cast (Thomas). They aren't beating the top teams in a 7 game series, but they can win more than they lose.
it's not much of a problem when Simmons barely plays. He's also now a bench player. At this rate he'll either be out of the rotation when everyone is available, sit out with "injury", or play meaningless minutes off the bench
IF Cam Thomas is a future star then they could have the pieces in 1-2 years... I peg maybe 30%... the sample size isn't nothing but he's not playing 35 a night all year and hitting a wall... His shooting and efficiency is impressive so far... Ray Allen-like... If they could move Harris and Dinwiddie in offseason and pickup a good 4 with size they may be something... Simmons has 3 40% 3pt shooters around him now... maybe he figures it out...
Some of you just have to continue the negative agenda .... You can't admit that you might have been wrong about the Harden trade - That getting a team's entire draft, without protections for a 7 year period was maybe the most impressive haul in the history of the league. That roster has middling players and no one to carry the scoring load. They might win 30 games .... that's a lottery team with a higher than average chance at a top 5 pick. But hey, carry on with the negative ....
Not sure how having a team with a massive glut of small forwards will work out. Don't look like they will be terrible nor great. Not sure which direction the Nets are going, but let's hope they want their picks back so they can tank. That would be the best case scenario.
We have to not let that get to us. The amount of negativity I have seen on Eason, Green, Sengun, Jabari, the coach, the GM, the owner, Wood (i was negative on him too) Nix, Wall, Harden, Westbrook, about trades etc etc etc the last few years is overwhelming. It's hard to want to read other Rocket's fans opinions while wanting to enjoy watching some of these young guys grow and be hopeful that there will be a team that will start next season improve over the next several years.
For that to be best case scenario, the Nets have to have something we'd want that projects to be better than a player those end up being. I don't see a player on that roster that I'd make that gamble on right now. I'm letting these picks marinate a while longer.
You never know - OKC might be willing to trade it's Houston pick next year for Bridges and the Nets and Rockets can then swap back their first rounders.
That's one pick in 2024 - what about the 25,26 & 27 picks? I really think that those picks are some of the most valuable assets in the NBA right now. The Nets have a lot of picks in the future but which of those are expected to be in the lottery and how do those picks affect the picks the Rockets hold via Brooklyn? The PHX picks 2023, 2025, 2027, 2029, the 23 pick has a very low likelihood of being a lottery pick and an even lower likelihood of being an early lottery pick. They have Philly's picks in 23 and 27, the 23 pick is going to be late 20's at best while the 27 pick is a total unknown - that pick has potential. They'll have 3 picks in this draft their own, Philly & PHX all of which should be in the 20's. These picks can affect the value of the 27 pick but the odds of getting more than role players in the 20's is fairly slim. The 25 pick via PHX is a wildcard and could factor into how valuable the 27 pick is - if used as a pick it's the last one that will play a minute before the 27 draft. They are a roster filled with solid role players missing the star power to carry the load, pretty much where the Rockets found themselves immediately after Harden was moved and with another team controlling their draft several years down the line too - like OKC does the next three seasons. I don't expect them to be bottom 5 bad but I see their ceiling as being a play in team with the potential to be several spots lower - those bottom 8-12 teams tend to be bunched up .... Maybe their best bet is trading all those picks & salary for a star ..... but who and what about Ben Simmons? That dude is dead weight at $35m+ for the next two years after this one - again limiting their ceiling. I'd hate to be in Sean Marks shoes .... a mediocre talent team with the highest cap in the league having to rely upon draft assets from other teams for the future.
If I was Nets I would tank this year . Rest up guys . Use practice to develop chemistry... blsmenjtnkn growing pains . Shut a guy down or two . Even if they get the #1 pick tyvm , we'd still have a pretty high pick to give them . It'd possible that's the best chance they have to add a premium asset. Idk what their cap is looking like. Then they try hard next year
