The Nets' record this season has not met expectations, Irving's unvaccinated, Durant's injury, Harden's departure, the Big Three have unshirkable responsibilities, but the game will continue, the team has not lost the hope of the playoffs, as long as the "711" combination remains healthy, no team can guarantee a stable win over the Nets.
Just before the end of the regular season, the Nets had not stopped operating, the team announced the layoff of James Johnson and turned Edwards' contract into a full contract, Johnson is already a 35-year-old veteran, this season he is the Nets' main rotation player, averaging 19.2 minutes per game, contributing 5.5 points, 3.5 boards, 2.1 assists, shooting 46.9%, in the face of the team's injury wave, his organizational ability played a big role, although his three-point ability is not as good as Edwards, But his playoff experience is still a very valuable asset, and it is simply unrealistic to rely on Edwards, who is still a rookie, to save the team.
At this time, there must be other reasons for choosing to abandon Johnson, Nash has said that Simmons will miss the play-offs, because he does not want Simmons to skip three high-intensity training cases directly on the scene, the implication is that Simmons' comeback has been put on the agenda, but not so fast, talking about Simmons, his height reached 2 meters 11, but it is the way to organize the defender, With a career average of 7.7 assists per game, he and Johnson's positioning is somewhat similar, it can be said that Johnson's top match, after Simmons returns, Johnson will completely lose the rotation position, rather than wasting a place, at least Edwards can open up space, the defensive pace is faster, when the Nets have enough organizers, he is more suitable for the choice of stars.
The Nets have Durant and Irving two major scoring machines, there is never a lack of offensive firepower, the team's biggest problem is organization and defense, although these two tasks as long as Durant is willing, he can complete, but this is too much for his physical consumption, not only will reduce his offensive efficiency, but also increase the risk of injury, if Simmons is on the floor, these problems will be solved, Simmons is one of the few players in the league who can defend from the number one to the fifth position, he has been responsible for keeping an eye on the opponent's core in the 76ers.
In fact, after the trade to get Simmons, Nash has been preparing for his comeback, he mentioned Brown to the position of starting small forward, and gave him some tasks to advance with the ball, completely instead of Simmons to practice tactics, Simmons is the big brown, wait until Simmons can play, he can directly replace Brown for seamless connection, starting Irving + Curry Jr. + Simmons + Durant + Zhuang Shen's lineup attack and defense is more balanced, and there are Dragic, Mills, Ade, Clarkston, Griffin and Edwards, depending on the opponent's situation, can choose different rotation players, the configuration is still quite reasonable.
How far the Nets can go this season depends entirely on simmons' recovery, regardless of stereotypes, simmons and Harden's trade is still a win-win situation, even if the two teams can't win the championship this season, the strength of next season will be stronger, maybe next year's East Final is the Nets against the 76ers, it will really look good!