On February 11, Beijing time, a number of transactions occurred on the NBA trading deadline, among which the Nets traded Harden to Philadelphia in exchange for Ben Simmons, Cescuri and Drummond, and involved two restricted first-round draft picks and veteran Millsap. At this point, the Nets' big three completed the reorganization, Harden bid farewell to Durant and Irving, and Ben Simmons became the new giant. After Harden left, Irving immediately played a highlight game, against the Wizards single core led the team, cut 31 points, 5 rebounds and 6 assists, showing good form.
Last season, Simmons averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game, and has been named an All-Star twice so far in his career, and has been a member of the best team in the past two seasons. It can be seen that Simmons is a player with a certain strength, although there is no shooting, but defense, rebounding, organization and other aspects are the top of the NBA, which will make the Nets' lineup more balanced, no longer a strong and weak mode.
For the arrival of Simmons, whether it is Durant or Owen have expressed their welcome, among them, Kyrie Owen and Simmons still have a lot of origins, both have Australian citizenship, Owen is more blunt to see Simmons at the age of 16, for the cooperation with Simmons is very longing, Owen said: "Open arms, open arms." I think we'll hear his voice and hear his opinion. ”
Born in Australia and having dual citizenship of Australia and the United States, Irving originally had the opportunity to be selected for the Australian national team as an adult team, but eventually chose to play for the United States team and played in the World Championships. Two of Australia's top players have come together at the Nets, and they have a chance to make a difference.
In addition, the Nets currently have a main player in the team is also an Australian player, veteran Mills is the core figure of the Australian national team in the past decade, successively in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, 2019 Basketball World Cup to achieve the point of scoring king, the past three World Series, Mills have led the Australian men's basketball team to at least play the final four results, is the highest peak in team history. In terms of status alone, Mills is Simmons's old predecessor,
Three Australians play on the same NBA team, which is rare in NBA history, and have the opportunity to create a career. Joining the Nets with Simmons this time are Cescurie and Drummond, two of whom are top scorers, Curry Jr. has a three-point shooting rate of 40% this season, and Drummond can improve the thickness of the interior line, and has won 20+ rebounds in a single game many times this season, with a certain interior shock. Coupled with Simmons' organizational defense and rebounding, once the Nets have a full roster, the overall strength will still be strong.
In the end, the leader of this Nets team is still Kevin Durant, since 2011, the team with Durant will be a strong contender for the championship every year, and this year is no exception, as long as Durant returns healthy, the Nets will impact the possibility of the championship, as long as it is at the peak of his career, Durant will always attack the championship!
(Lin Xiaoxiang)