Against the defending champions and the old Milwaukee Bucks, the Brooklyn Nets naturally held their breath to win the game, and they were indeed quite close to victory at one point. However, the key three-pointer of "Alphabet Brother" Giannis Antetokounmpo dragged the game into overtime, and with Kevin Durant's failure to shoot, the Nets once again lost at home to the Bucks. After this campaign, the Nets are still in the eighth place in the East, but with the same record as the Atlanta Hawks and Charlotte Hornets behind them, not only are they basically sure to play the playoffs, but if the final stage is average, the Nets are likely to fall out of the top eight in the East, when they have to win two opponents in a row to get a playoff ticket.
In response to the Nets' current problems, the US media also talked about their own views, and believed that the Nets chose to bring Ben Simmons back to Brooklyn at the last moment of the deadline, which may be a rather wrong decision. Although the Nets and James Harden completely fell out at that time, the two sides could not continue to cooperate, so there was no big problem in sending Harden away. However, the Nets should look for a third-party team with a young overall lineup and persuade them to accept Ben Simmons' contract, but the result is just the opposite, and there is news that Ben Simmons is likely to miss all the games this season, and the Nets can really lose a lot.
Since winning the regular season MVP award in 13-14, Kevin Durant may have played the best of his career. Although he was once injured, as long as he stayed healthy, Durant on the offensive end was unstoppable. Kelly Irving, on the other hand, has been allowed to play at home, so as long as the Twins stay healthy, the Nets still have the hope of hitting the championship. In the eyes of the US media, the Nets should have looked for superb shooters and tough defensive elites, rather than down-and-out rising stars like Simmons who hoped to coexist with risk.
Perhaps in the eyes of the Nets, Ben Simmons is a former champion, now only 25 years old, last season, although he began to play a supporting role for Joel Embiid, he still averaged 14.3 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game, shooting as high as 56%, Ben Simmons is naturally worth a fight. Not to mention that in addition to the lack of positional warfare ability, and the fact that the outside projection has not been able to be developed, Ben Simmons's defense, organizational passing, overall view and even the destructive power within the three-second zone are beyond doubt.
However, there are also problems and risks, not to mention Ben Simmons's own shortcomings in technology, and his personality has also been criticized, in short, the heart is too high and the life is thinner than paper. I thought that after the 76ers left and changed the new environment, Ben Simmons's situation would change, but his comeback time still seemed out of reach, even if he could play, it seemed that Ben Simmons would not easily give Durant and Irving a hand, when they were the little brothers. What's even worse is that Ben Simmons' contract won't expire until the summer of 2025, which means that the Nets have completely lost their way out and have no chance to unwind.
The Nets weren't without options, with both the Sacramento Kings and portland Trail Blazers having scandals with Ben Simmons and being ideal third-party partners. For the Nets, they could try to ask the Kings for Terres Halliburton, or get CJ McCollum from the Blazers or one with Norman Powelly. It should be known that the Nets, whether Irving or Seth Curry, are better at individual offense, and Halliburton is a natural court commander, and if he could have arrived, he could have let the Other Nets guard focus entirely on scoring. Unfortunately, the Nets themselves were one step too late, Hariburton was sent to the Pacers by the Kings, and now he has been regarded as the absolute core of the team, and under the cultivation of famous coach Carlisle, the future is unlimited.
The Blazers also voluntarily gave up the opportunity to compete for the playoffs, with CJ McCollum being sent to the New Orleans Pelicans and Norman Powell joining the Los Angeles Clippers. It should be noted that these two have a fairly good performance after switching to the new owners, and both CJ McCollum and Norman Powell have a comprehensive offensive means and can play the third scorer around Irving and Durant. CJ McCollum, in particular, has been the second in command of the Trail Blazers all these years, and it would be quite a luxury to change to the third point.
Norman Powell is less famous, but he is an outside all-rounder, and compared with CJ McCollum, Norman Powell's offensive and defensive ends are more balanced, and will not be frequently targeted by the other side as a loophole. Unfortunately, the Nets were too obsessed with unilateral cooperation with the 76ers, completely rejecting other possibilities, and some players who were also good and probably more suitable for the Nets were missed by them, so the Nets had nothing to do but expect Durant and Irving to continue to be super-gods.