I agree but that's why I'm disappointed we couldn't get simmons. morey was help bent and getting harden and that's why they colluded and tampered to make a deal happen. morey should be banned from the nba ala luhnow. we never had a chance and that's not okay but makes me feel better about stone doing nothing.
The popular KD return date is mid March. That has him missing about 12 more games and Kyrie can only play in 4 of them. Those 4 games are Bucks, Celtics, Hornets, and Philly. The Nets going 3-9 or worse is very possible and might even be considered likely if Simmons can't show up and be effective soon. KD would then be there for the last 14 but Kyrie could only play in 4 of those games. It's going to be tough for them to climb out of the play in. And they could end up playing the Raptors on the road without Kyrie in a must win play in.
Is the Nets pick determined strictly by regular season record? What happens if KD comes back and they get into the playoffs and do well?
Incorrect regarding play-in, play-in winners for 7th and 8th seed are playoff teams and the losers are lottery teams regardless of record.
Hoping Durant's injury is more serious and he takes the year off. Ben Simmons still sucks. Irving gets "covid" and decides to retire.
This is playing out like Lebron's first year in LA. KD will play some of games and if the team doesn't look like it's an improvement, they'll just shut him down the rest of the season.
It's unlikely but not impossible. They are currently 3.5 games ahead of the 11th seed WAS. They will have to fall behind 3 teams in order to completely miss the play-in. A more plausible outcome is that they lose in the play-in and miss the playoffs. If that happens, they will be in the lottery around the 13th - 14th draft range. And they will also have a chance, albeit extremely small, to win the lottery and get a top 3 pick.
I think Charlotte and Atlanta could catch Brooklyn, but the rest of those east coast teams are so bad: Washington, New York, Indy, Orlando, Detroit. Best case scenario, Brooklyn falls to #10 in the East. Unfortunately I can’t see them falling out of the play-in game. But exciting to know that there is a pathway to a lotto pick!
So I was just looking at the Nets salary situation, and there are REALLY reliant on Durant and Simmons working out through the next few years. We all know Simmons' contract isn't great, but Durant's extension is starting to look pretty rough, too. Durant turns 34 before next season, which is the first of four in which he'll be averaging basically $50 million a year. This being the same guy who's two years removed from recovering from an Achilles injury and who has missed a huge chunk of both seasons. My first thought was "Well, at least Kyrie comes off the books in 2023, and they'll have money to replace him with a stable superstar." But that's going to take some creativity. In 2023-24, Durant, Simmons and Harris make a combined $105 million! And in 2024-25, Simmons and Durant alone make over $91 million! If Durant can't stay healthy and/or Simmons can't live up to that contract, then there's a better than average chance that Brooklyn team is going to be bad for a long, long time. As a Rockets fan, I'm here for it. Here's to hoping this is just the first of many future lottery picks from the Nets!
I can. They've lost 11 in a row. That's not a very good team. I saw someone in here saying KD is expected back mid March. That's actually a lot later than what I thought. If the Nets don't get him back relatively soon and they can't turn things around they may just shut it down and try to regroup next season when hopefully the mandate will be lifted and they can all get on the same page.
