RADIO
Every year, the NBA Playoffs crown only one champion out of 16 total teams. Eight of those teams get eliminated in the first round and they are left trying to figure out whether or not the team is trending towards championship contention or the opposite way.
The Brooklyn Nets are one of those teams that went from championship contender to blowing it up but then found out that they could actually contend a lot quicker than they originally thought. Young talent mixed with a handful of favorable contracts and a plethora of available moves to make is what creates the situation that general manager Sean Marks is in right now.
So, after getting swept in the first round for the second season in a row, we're going to take a look at a few things the Nets need to do if they want to avoid a first-round sweep for a third consecutive year.
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Trade Ben Simmons At Any Cost
After shipping away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Nets stocked up with draft capital as they now have 10 first-round picks from the 2023 NBA Draft up through 2029. Ben Simmons, on the other hand, is under contract through the 2024-25 season and still has $78,231,552 guaranteed in the next two seasons.
No one, in their right mind, is going to trade for Simmons without getting either young talent or first-round picks in return. The 26-year-old played in just 42 games this season while starting in 33 of them. He played the least amount of minutes per game in his career while also posting career lows in points, rebounds, assists, and steals per game. When he was considered healthy, he didn't look good on the court at all except for a week-long stretch in late November.
Those picks in the war chest, along with the nine second-round picks, can very well be packaged with Simmons and maybe even Cam Thomas, Joe Harris, or Day'Ron Sharpe to get a contributing player and free up a ton of cap space. One bigger-named player that has already been in the rumor mill is Damian Lillard. That would jumpstart the rebuild immediately to give them Simmons and draft capital for a superstar point guard.
Re-sign Cameron Johnson
The 27-year-old that spent time at Pitt and UNC has steadily grown from his rookie season in 2019-20 until now. Even after a major knee injury, he returned and averaged 13.9 points, 3.8 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game while shooting a scorching 45.5% from three on 5.8 attempts per game. Then, across 25 games with Brooklyn, he posted 16.6 points, 4.8 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and 1.4 steals per contest.
Johnson played a huge part in keeping their series against the Philadelphia 76ers at least respectable. Even though they did get swept, he put up a big 28-point total in Game 2 and averaged 18.5 points on 50.9% shooting from the floor and 42.9% from deep across the series.
He's about to hit free agency if the Nets can't get a deal done, and Johnson will surely look to secure as big of a contract as he can since any team across the league could use his services. He'll likely get a yearly value of around $15-20 million. So, after getting rid of Simmons' contract and hopefully moving Harris' contract as well, that allows plenty of cap space to sign Johnson as well as bring in a superstar player.
Get value back for Dorian Finney-Smith
There are two guys on this roster that essentially play the same role and play it the same way. Dorian Finney-Smith and Royce O'Neale are taking up the same spot and they both aren't shooting very well. O'Neale, on the other hand, actually played some impactful defense and started to get under the skin of Joel Embiid and James Harden.
Finney-Smith still has the skill to be a very good role player on a contending team. Those teams could be inclined to unload a couple of players to find the right wing. Minus this season, the 29-year-old was one of the most consistent wings on the Dallas Mavericks. The Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Atlanta Hawks are three teams that could use him right now.
The perfect value for Finney-Smith would be a quality rebounding big man off of the bench. Against Philadelphia, one of their biggest issues was giving up offensive boards to the likes of Paul Reed and P.J. Tucker. So, upgrading from a wing spot they already have to someone along the lines of Naz Reid or Isaiah Hartenstein could go a long way next season.
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