{"id":87571,"date":"2022-10-05T08:57:03","date_gmt":"2022-10-05T08:57:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nets-are-a-total-mystery\/"},"modified":"2022-10-05T08:57:03","modified_gmt":"2022-10-05T08:57:03","slug":"nets-are-a-total-mystery","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nets-are-a-total-mystery\/","title":{"rendered":"Nets are a total mystery"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n<\/aside>\n<p>Here is the crux of the issue for the Nets, summed up in the answer to a question in NBA.com&#8217;s anonymous survey of all 30 general managers: Which team&#8217;s level of success is toughest to predict?<\/p>\n<p>Brooklyn led the pack at 32 percent, nearly doubling any other team.<\/p>\n<p>What are the Nets going to be?  Nobody has any idea.  And after cratering from title favorites to first-round losers in 2022, the range of outcomes is all over the place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNew look?  I don&#8217;t know,\u201d Kevin Durant said, regarding the offense, following Monday night&#8217;s preseason opener.  \u201cI think we know how we play, each and every one of us.  It&#8217;s just about finding rhythm out there, getting our legs.  It&#8217;s good to see Ben [Simmons] back, it&#8217;s good to see [Edmond Sumner] back, Joe [Harris] back after having some tough surgeries.  So, yeah, once we get our legs up under us, everybody finds out exactly what they want to do out there, I think we&#8217;ll be in good shape.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut for the most part, it may take a couple of days, a couple of preseason games, a couple of weeks, who knows?\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><figcaption>Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons can help lead the Nets to a title, absolute ruin, or anything in between.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Corey Sipkin<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Exactly what this will look like with a healthy Durant, Simmons and Kyrie Irving all playing is only one part of the equation.  Prior to James Harden being traded for Simmons, the Nets barely got to see all three of their superstars on the floor at the same time \u2014 the three played just 16 games together including the playoffs over 1 \u00bd seasons.  Brooklyn went 13-3 in those games, but you don&#8217;t get titles for that.<\/p>\n<p>Simmons, who had not played a competitive basketball game since the Sixers were eliminated from the 2021 postseason, comes with his own set of questions regarding his compete level (he was widely returned for sitting out the series against Boston) and readiness to after sitting out for more than a year, as well as his shooting ability, which has dogged him since he broke into the league.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignright\">\n\t<\/aside>\n<p>There is also the not-so-small matter of Durant having requested a trade over the summer and later asking that coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks be let go as a condition of him staying before backing down.<\/p>\n<p>The talent is very much in place.  The whole thing could also implode.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was fun messing up,\u201d Simmons said following Monday&#8217;s 127-108 loss to the Sixers in the team&#8217;s preseason opener, \u201cbecause I know how good we can be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Simmons, in his Brooklyn debut, played 19 minutes and shot 3 of 6 from the field with five assists.  Harris, returning from ankle surgery, shot 2 of 7, all of which were 3-pointers.<\/p>\n<p>For a team that, technically, is returning every player in its starting lineup, the Nets have a lot of questions to answer about how the offense will look \u2014 though &#8216;technically&#8217; is doing a lot of heavy lifting there.  Durant, on Monday, was asked when he&#8217;ll know that things are clicking.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen we win games in the regular season,\u201d he said.  \u201cI mean, it&#8217;s kind of hard to say.  I think to be honest, it&#8217;s hard to say when exactly it clicked.  But I think you know you get used to your teammates every day.  You talk, have conversations about where you see each other and how you can help each other and go from there.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo the dialogue is always on with Ky, Ben, myself, Royce [O\u2019Neal], the rest of the guys.  So I think it just happens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat&#8217;s a tough question.  I don&#8217;t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ultimately, the answer could define the season.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>    .<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here is the crux of the issue for the Nets, summed up in the answer to a question in NBA.com&#8217;s anonymous survey of all 30 general managers: Which team&#8217;s level of success is toughest to predict? Brooklyn led the pack at 32 percent, nearly doubling any other team. What are the Nets going to be? &hellip;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"> <a class=\"\" href=\"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nets-are-a-total-mystery\/\"> <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Nets are a total mystery<\/span> Read More &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[6],"tags":[900,432,431,901,68,307,5207],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":7886,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nets-trade-of-kevin-durant-to-warriors-would-be-complicated\/","url_meta":{"origin":87571,"position":0},"title":"Nets trade of Kevin Durant to Warriors would be complicated","date":"July 8, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"LAS VEGAS \u2014 As new reports the Warriors are interested in trading for Kevin Durant pick up, so will speculation about Ben Simmons' place on the Nets. A Warriors package posited by ESPN included not just Jonathan Kuminga, Jordan Poole, James Wiseman and a trove of first-round draft picks, but\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Nets forward Kevin Durant reacts during the fourth quarter of Game 4 of the first round of the 2022 NBA playoffs against the Celtics at Barclays Center.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/07\/BASKETBALL-NBA-BKN-BOS_.1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54000,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/brooklyn-nets-kevin-durant-meet-agree-to-move-forward-demands-together-after-stars-trade\/","url_meta":{"origin":87571,"position":1},"title":"Brooklyn Nets, Kevin Durant meet, agree to &#8216;move forward&#8217; demands together after star&#8217;s trade","date":"August 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Kevin Durant is staying in Brooklyn, according to a statement from Nets general manager Sean Marks.\"[Coach] Steve Nash and I, together with [governors] Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday,\" Marks said in a statement. \"We have agreed to move\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86495,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/ben-simmons-makes-brooklyn-nets-debut\/","url_meta":{"origin":87571,"position":2},"title":"Ben Simmons makes Brooklyn Nets debut","date":"October 4, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"NEW YORK -- Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons made his long-awaited debut with his new team on Monday after almost a year and a half away from the game.After pushing for a trade out of Philadelphia while citing mental health concerns and then dealing with offseason back surgery, Simmons said\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":338,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/nets-kevin-durant-requests-trade\/","url_meta":{"origin":87571,"position":3},"title":"Nets&#8217; Kevin Durant Requests Trade","date":"June 30, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"nets star Kevin Durant has requested a trade out of Brooklyn, sources tell Shams Charania of The Athletic (twitter link). Durant's business manager Rich Kleiman tells Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN (twitter link) that he and Durant are working with Nets general manager Sean Marks to find a new home for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/cdn.hoopsrumors.com\/files\/2022\/04\/Kevin-Durant-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54566,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/kevin-durant-ends-nets-trade-demand-and-agrees-to-move-forward-brooklyn-nets\/","url_meta":{"origin":87571,"position":4},"title":"Kevin Durant ends Nets trade demand and agrees to &#8216;move forward&#8217; |  Brooklyn Nets","date":"August 24, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"Kevin Durant will remain a Brooklyn Net and will no longer be available for trade, according to the team's general manager, Sean Marks.\u201c[Head coach] Steve Nash and I, together with Joe Tsai and Clara Wu Tsai, met with Kevin Durant and Rich Kleiman in Los Angeles yesterday,\u201d Marks said in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":98048,"url":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/five-biggest-takeaways-from-nets-preseason\/","url_meta":{"origin":87571,"position":5},"title":"Five biggest takeaways from Nets&#8217; preseason","date":"October 15, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"The Nets played their final preseason game Friday at Minnesota, and now the regular season opener is around the corner, Wednesday against the Pelicans at Barclays Center. Coming off a 112-102 victory over the towering Timberwolves, here are some observations from camp and the preseason. 1. About those habits Kevin\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Sports&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"Kevin Durant drives to the basket during the Nets' preseason win over the Timberwolves. ","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/Nets-Timberwolves-Basketball.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2022\/10\/nets-nba-gm-survery-durant-simmons.jpg?quality=75&strip=all&w=1024","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87571"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87571"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87571\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87571"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87571"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/harchi90.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87571"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}