After the trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets are faced with an interesting issue. Namely, they now have a very deep team with almost too many good players.
Since Mikal Bridges, Spencer Dinwiddie, Cameron Johnson, and Dorian Finney-Smith have come to the team, other players like ben Simmons, Royce O’Neale, Cam Thomas, Yuta Watanabe, Joe Harris and others have seen their roles reversed.
Locked on Nets takes a look at the situation and where the minutes might go from now on. What should the rotations be and what are the potential problems now facing Jacque Vaughn.
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20 Comments
Minutes equal money for players on expiring deals or rookies who really have not made big money yet. If your Yuta scratching to stay on an NBA roster and this has been your most productive year and you are trying to finally cash in and Ben Simmons is running eating minutes that must hurt because he is paid already. If your Sharpe trying to finally break in for consistent backup center minutes and you have worked your tail off to get your body right like the organization asked and your minutes are given to Ben Simmons for a mental health project that must hurt because you could out of the league in no time.
The major problem is you have guys who have been far more productive on the Bench who are on essentially expiring deals looking to prove themselves meanwhile they are taking minutes and using them to build up Ben Simmons. That really sucks for those players because it could literally mean they are not on an NBA roster next season because they didn’t play much after the All Star Break. This is their careers and they might lose their jobs over Ben Simmons coddling. More collateral damage.
I would agree with you when they start winning because right now I'm not seeing it. Do you understand how happy the Knicks fans are because they finally beat us?
Sumner has value. He needs to be utilized as our defensive stopper for smaller speedy guards like Brunson. JV kept Sumner out that game. Had JV utilized Sumner’s prowess, I believe he couldn’t slowed Brunson some.
Thomas, Simmons, Curry, Harris, O’neale, Watanabe, Sharpe & Sumner are ALL valuable bench pieces and should be utilized situationally. Who is playing well gets minutes who is not sits.
The minutes issue is certainly an interesting problem to have. Your breakdown of minutes Doug is reasonable. I also agree with your stance on Ben…it’s hard to say what to do without really knowing what’s going on with him. I thought Cam Thomas looked more than just “a little surly” after the heat game. We certainly don’t need any unhappy bad attitude players going forward.
They should make a rule if a player asked for a trade out of an organization and they are up for the All-Star team. They lose all the fan votes that they got for that All-Star game and if it ends up that they’re not a starter or that they don’t end up on the All-Star team that’s on them.
Sharp is poop
if that's true then why not play up tempo and more like how hocky is played and tire out your opponents by having a deep rotation?
Depending on who is cooking, Dinwiddie should play 24-34min. Bridges 28-38. O'Neale 10-24, C.Johnson 22-32. DFS 16-28 so Cam Thomas can play 18-36min. If B.Simmons doesnt come out aggressive he shouldnt play more than 12min. Also Simmons should sit out when his back or knee is bothering him. Give Thomas some PG minutes. It would be nice if Sumner & Yuta got more min but I understand the issue there. We cant allow Simmons refusal to play hard start to frustrate(our Core-5 guys) Bridges, Cam Johnson, Cam Thomas, Clax & Dinwiddie.
I've been impressed w/ Dru Smith. He was great in the G-League, he is strong defensively, a pass first PG & has some talent as a scorer.
My starting 5 would be Spence/Thomas/Bridges/DFS/Clax. I think Thomas' defensive shortcomings can be covered up by the smothering D from the other 4. Off the bench would be Cam Jonson/Royce O'Neal and Ben Simmons, for his defense and passing. If we go 9 deep, guys like Curry and Harris would need to absolutely shoot the lights out to justify playing them over Yuta, who brings better D and can still shoot 3s at high rate. The heart of this team is going to be defense and 3s, with some penetration from Bridges, Thomas, Spence and maybe Johnson.
Part of the issue with Simmons is that I don't see JV playing Simmons and Clax together. So every minute you give Simmons is a minute you can't play Clax. You had Clax at 30 minutes, which might be optimistic seeing his fatigue issues already, but if he plays 30 that leaves 18 for Simmons. I see it more like 28 to 20. Since Spence can't play 48 someone else needs to play PG when he sits. Simmons can do that, but then is anyone going down low? Thomas can handle the ball a little, so can Royce.
Unfortunately, I think Joe Harris and his $20 mil cap hit is going to have to be traded this offseason, unless we can either unload Simmons contract or maybe renegotiate it. That will give us the cap flexibility to sign another solid piece or two.
I've been pushing for the Nets to sign Thomas Bryant since before the KD/Kyrie signings. After 7 years in the league, Bryant is still only 25. His career Offensive Rating/Defensive Rating is 129/113. He is exactly the strong defensive big who can still score from anywhere on the floor that we need.
Sumner deserves ben simmons mins
In theory having too many good players is a bonus, not a hindrance. If a player is off one night, they get replaced. If there is an injury, quality players can be brought in to replace them. The team should be able to run faster and play harder all game long. Every player (including Simmons) knows that if they are not playing at their peak, there are others to take their place.
This team could do way more damage in the playoffs than what you are making out. The team has elite defence, possibly the best in the NBA. Defence is key in playoffs.
Get rid of Simmons, Harris, mills, that Chinese mf, edomund, daron
Thomas isn’t a team player. Whenever I see an awesome play, especially Bridges now, the bench explodes up and Cam is pouting. I expect a Thomas trade in summer.
Who care about minutes as long as they win. The only problem we have is f….ing Ben Simmons 🤦♂️
Cam Thomas is the best complete pure scorer on this team. No one on this team can do what he does on offense. He needs to play 28 to 30 minutes a game.