The Brooklyn Nets were swept out by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs, and after what is arguably the biggest defeat in the team's history, we can blame anyone on this team at will, but everyone at the Nets this season is responsible.
As they enter the 2021-22 season, the Nets are considered by many to be the biggest favourites to win an NBA championship, when they have a big three combination of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden, and the paper strength is definitely the league's number one. But bad luck seems to have been with the team, with the demon-loving Owen first being ruled by the league not to qualify for the team's home games because of his stance on vaccinations and local epidemic regulations in New York at the time.
Injuries began to come back to the door, the team's rotation was constantly changing, and Harden's patience was at its lowest, seemingly ready to give up on a team that gave up everything just to get him. Tensions between Harden and the Nets have been rising in the months leading up to the trade deadline, and finally on Feb. 11, the Nets struck a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers to fulfill Harden's desire to leave the team. The Nets sent Harden and Paul Millsap to the 76ers, with All-Star guards Ben Simmons, Andre Drummond and Seth Curry, a deal that directly changed the 2021-22 NBA.
On the face of it, the Nets could get better with the deal because Simmons' arrival allowed them to get some much-needed depth and a great defensive player, but another important signing, Seth Curry, missed some time with an ankle injury, center Andre Drummond was also limited by frontcourt compatibility issues and didn't have much room to play, while Simmons simply didn't play a game this season due to mental health issues and ongoing backcourt compatibility issues.
As the offseason approaches, Simmons' long-term position in the Nets and NBA will certainly be a key topic of discussion, but the key question to ask is what is next for the Nets? For the Nets, this season has been like a roller coaster, going from a team that all teams want to beat to a team that all teams can beat, and the Nets really need to re-evaluate the way they build their lineup.
Owen would stay
The Nets' best news is that Durant has signed a long-term contract with the team, and they don't need to worry about the league's best scorer leaving the team. The bad news is that Irving has a player option that he can choose to refuse to execute and become an unrestricted free agent in the offseason, but do the Nets need to worry about Irving leaving the team for somewhere else in the offseason?
After a sweep to the Celtics on Tuesday, Irving attended the team's season farewell press conference about the possibility of him staying in Brooklyn and signing a new long-term contract with the Nets, "As far as my contract extension is concerned, I'm really not going anywhere, which adds momentum to our team to become a championship in the next few years, and I'm just looking forward to summer and building this team with our teammates." When I said I wanted to play with Durant, I really thought it would take us to manage this team with boss Choi Chong-shin and general manager Sean Marks and family members in our dressing room and in the team. ”
The Nets have handled a lot of things this season, not only with Harden's departure, but also with Irving not showing up until Jan. 6 in the team's home games. After giving up half a team last season to get Harden, losing the All-Star guard is undoubtedly a huge blow to this team, which can no longer experience any more shocks.
The good news is that there is no indication that Durant wants to leave this team, and Irving does not seem to doubt his future at the Nets. "I don't have any questions about where I'm going to go and how I'm going to get there, I'm with Durant and I'm going to build a great team here, I've shot so many goals, I've done so many things, you know my personal greatness is recognised, but at this point in my career I really just want to be part of a great team and dominate the game in that way. I'm not really focused on any personal accolades or achievements, but rather want to really build something special that's my focus over the summer, building this team with my teammates and I'm going to work on it every day. ”
Irving, who just turned 30 in March, is indeed fraught with uncertainty about his future, but at least in Tuesday's post-match press conference, he seemed to have made clear his intention to stay in the team. As for what Irving's next contract will look like, if he turns down the $36.9 million player option, the seven-time All-Star qualifies for a five-year, $247.7 million cap-and-file contract from the Nets. By contrast, the rest of the league can only offer him a four-year contract worth $183.6 million at most, with a gap of as much as $64 million between the two contracts. Of course, Irving is also eligible for a contract extension from the Nets in the offseason, when the Nets can offer him a four-year, $189.9 million cap.
Basically, Irving's upcoming contract situation boils down to whether he's willing to make some sacrifices on salary to help his team build a longer-term plan. According to his post-Game statement on Tuesday, Kyrie seems willing to move on with this team and help this team in any way, so even if Irving has the possibility of denying player options and entering the free agent market, he is more likely to remain a member of the Nets after this season.
Griffin and four others will leave the team
The Nets will be very busy in the free agent market and the trading market this offseason. If we count Irving's $36.5 million player option, their total offseason salary so far is as high as $160 million, which means that even if they don't make any signings, they will once again be a luxury tax team next season. How much they are willing to spend, and whether they are willing to be one of the highest luxury taxes in the league, are two big questions the Nets must address in the free agent market and the trading market.
Looking at the Nets' roster now, I believe that Durant, Simmons and Irving will not go to other teams, so before Irving's contract expires, the annual salary of all three of them is estimated to be $115 million. In addition, Joe Harris will earn $18.6 million a year next season and Curry Jr. will earn $8.4 million a year, and both players will be fully guaranteed next season's contracts. On top of that, veteran Patty Mills has a $6.1 million player option, and he'll make a decision by June 29, and then basically the rest of the people will be free agents.
Among the free agents, Bruce Brown, Andre Drummond, Goran Dragic, LaMarcus Aldridge and Blake Griffin are all unrestricted free agents, while Nicholas Clarkston will be a restricted free agent with a qualifying offer contract of $2.2 million, which is unlikely to retain him compared to his potential market value.
How the Nets piece together their roster depends on what Irving's contract looks like, but assuming he and the Nets finalize a four-year contract worth about $190 million, the Nets will be able to use taxpayer middle-class exceptions to sign Zhao, Brown, and Drummond back, and they can also use one of the trade exceptions to add one or two players. However, in this way, the Nets' salary plus luxury tax next season will exceed $330 million, almost on par with the Golden State Warriors, the league's first local team with a salary plus luxury tax of up to $350 million.
Beefing up the bench will be the Nets' top priority in the free agent market, but given the luxury tax pressure they face, there's no easy way to do that. They are certainly likely to keep Mills, Cho, Drummond and Brown in the offseason, but it is more likely that none of these four players will return to the team next season because none of them will be willing to accept a base salary contract, and the Nets simply cannot afford the extravagant tax penalties they will bear in the next few years because of signing.
Finding height and depth, especially the flanks, will be key to the Nets in the offseason, which they got from Harden to the 76ers this season with an $11.3 million trade exception, and a $6.2 million trade exception that jordaned Jordan Jr. to the Detroit Pistons last offseason, and the Nets are likely to use those two trade exceptions to bring in two key bench players, but that is likely to make the Nets pay Harris or Curry Jr., who are the team's fourth and fifth highest salaries, respectively.
Nash will most likely stay with the Nets
There have been a lot of rumours lately about Nash's future, and while there have been calls for a replacement of the head coach, the team's number one star, Durant, took the stage for his head coach after tuesday's first-round exit from the team's playoffs. Asked if Nash is the right coach for this team, Durant said it was a silly question: "Please guys, there's no doubt that yes, Steve has been dealing with some crazy things for the last two years, he has had to deal with a lot of things for the first time as head coach, including coronavirus, trades, injuries, he has to deal with a lot of things and I'm proud of his dedication and passion for us. ”
Nash was named manager of the Nets before the 2020-21 season and led the team to a 92-62 record (59.7% win rate) during his tenure as Nets head coach, but the team's tough conditions over the past two seasons are obvious, and they have never been able to break through in the playoffs, but the Hall of Famer believes he will return to the Nets in the 2022-23 season.
Nash said: "I love the job, I like these people, I like my players, I love all the departments. We have a great working environment and I enjoyed it here very much and hope to continue to do so. The return of Simmons and Joe Harris is going to give us a huge boost and you know we're going to see how the other players in the lineup rotate, but we should be excited about it and have two of your best four players back and it's two tall players, one all-Star and the other one being one of the best scorers in the league, which gives us a lot of momentum and it's a huge push. ”
While many have expressed their desire for the Nets to sack Nash, there is no indication that Nash will leave the Nets' coaching position, after all, he got the Nets' position solely because of the support of Durant and boss Tsai Chongxin. Durant naturally needless to say, during the period of playing for the Golden State Warriors, Nash is the Warriors' adviser, and a deep cooperative relationship has been established between the two, and the team owner Cai Chongxin is an iron fan of Nash's tenure as a player.
But in this offseason, a whole bunch of big decisions need to be made by team management, and whether the Nets can become championship contenders in the next league depends entirely on their performance in the next few months.