Who are the focus figures throughout the NBA's offseason? Simmons and Owen! One of the two big thorns left the team, and one refused to accept the new crown vaccine. With the regular season just around the corner, Simmons has returned and trained for the team, while Irving is still sticking to his position.
Simmons's participation in team training is nothing more than a compromise with money, whether to participate in the game is still unknown, even if it is a game, it is basically a matter of coping. Owen made it clear in his live broadcast that he would continue to insist on not getting vaccinated, but would never give up basketball and choose to retire. The signal from the words and deeds of the two people is obvious that they want to actively increase the value of their transactions and seek to trade.
Strong suitability to trading teams, comparable positions, similar salaries (Simmons with $140 million left on his 4-year contract and $700 million for 2 years on his contract), and both of them have made up their minds, which opens up endless possibilities for swap deals between the two All-Stars.
Once the deal is made, Simmons' addition will minimize the Nets' loss of Irving. The following is analyzed from three aspects: offense, organization and defense:
1. Offense is enough
For other teams, losing irving, who averaged around 25 points per game, would be a fatal blow, but not for the Nets. With Durant and Harden at the bottom, Simmons can still use excellent breakthroughs and fast attacks to provide an average of about 16 points per game even if he does not have a basket, which is absolutely enough for the Nets that the offense has overflowed.
2. Organizational make-up
At present, the Nets are in urgent need of organizational points, especially in Irving's absence from the preseason, and the lack of organizational points has become more and more prominent. New defender Carter defended well and Mills scored well, but they had at best the ball through halfway, making it difficult for them to sort out the offense. At present, the team can hardly find a reliable organizational guard except for Harden. As a representative of the league's control front, Simmons's housekeeping skills are tandem teams, as evidenced by his career average of 8 assists per game. Let him stagger with Harden to organize the team, and the Nets' offensive fluency will be upgraded by a notch.
3. Defensive core
What is the most lacking thing for the Nets to compete for the championship? It's defense! Defending to win a championship is an eternal truth. Simmons is 2.11m tall and has an arm span of 2.14m, typical of the forward-height defender style of play. Adequate sized top-edges, high agility, excellent physical condition and top-notch defensive skills make Simmons a nightmare for offensive players when assisting in the defensive reinforcement of the flanks. Career averages of 8.3 rebounds and 1.7 steals per game are the upper level of the league, which is also the best evidence of rebounding protection and single defense. That's why Simmons was able to score two goals and one defense in just four seasons of his career (2019-20 and 2020-21). It can be said that Simmons brings not only defense, but also a defensive system with it as the core.
Not long ago, ST FMVP "Alphabet Brother" Antetokounmpo said of Irving in an interview: "Whether Irving plays or not in the new season, I will support him." Even if Owen doesn't play, I wouldn't say I'd be happy about it. But the smile on his face couldn't hide the joy in his heart, because no one knew better than Alphabet Brother what the Nets' loss of Irving meant to him. Without Owen, Alphabet Brother would have thought his path to defending his title would have been much easier. However, once this transaction is reached, the Nets led by the 2MVP+7 scoring king+2 first defense team will once again become the number one seed in the league to compete for the championship, and this time the letter brother's wishful thinking is afraid to play early!
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