The Brooklyn Nets have questions and expectations across the board following a first-round playoff exit and a drama-filled offseason. So how is their best player feeling one week away from the start of the 2022-23 campaign?
“Who knows?”
Kevin Durant said on Tuesday that things are currently fine in Brooklyn, but he knows better than anyone that the energy surrounding a team can change in a hurry.
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Durant’s point about how a team comes together through adversity is valid. The Nets have certainly faced plenty of obstacles – some self-inflicted – since he arrived in the 2019 offseason. In 2022-23, however, the Nets have players who have never taken an NBA court together.
Ben Simmons joined the team last February in the blockbuster James Harden trade. The 2016 No. 1 draft pick had not played for the Philadelphia 76ers in 2021-22 to that point and missed the rest of the season once he got to Brooklyn.
Durant had encouraging things to say about Simmons and wants him to be aggressive. Still, even during his positive assessment, Durant mentioned that “I’m not here to be babysitting anybody,” via ESPN’s Nick Friedell.
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Simmons is far from the only big question surrounding the Nets going into next season. Durant himself requested a trade from Brooklyn before his four-year, $194 million extension kicked in. Nets general manager Sean Marks announced in a statement in August that Durant and the team “have agreed to move forward with our partnership.”
Elsewhere, Kyrie Irving is coming off a controversial 2021-22, Steve Nash and Marks were brought up in the Durant saga and the Nets’ division is loaded.
The Nets are 0-2 in the preseason so far and lost those two games by 48 combined points as Simmons started alongside Durant. The team has two more exhibitions this week before opening the regular season against the New Orleans Pelicans next Wednesday.