Nash Has To Pull Simmons Out Of The Nets’ Starting Lineup

Corey Sipkin

When Nets wing Joe Harris returned to action at the start of this season following multiple ankle surgeries, no one had a conniption when he wasn’t given his starting job back. He hadn’t played since last November, so it made sense that he was instead eased into things by coming off the bench.

Similarly, Seth Curry, who started every game he played last season between Philadelphia and Brooklyn and then underwent offseason ankle surgery, made his season debut on Saturday night against the visiting Pacers as a reserve. And whenever forward T.J. Warren is cleared to play, hopefully sometime in November, I’ll bet he’ll begin his minutes ramp up in a bench role.

So why was it ordained that Ben Simmons needed to start right away after not playing for, um, 16 MONTHS (!!!) due to both mental issues and then a back injury that required microdiscectomy surgery?

It was always expected that Simmons was going to be (cough, cough) “rusty” from the inaction and adjustment to a new team, yet Nets Head Coach Steve Nash has force-fed him to the tune of nearly 32 minutes per game over the first six games of the season.

More keen observers of Simmons see a Mackey Sasser-type block when he ventures near the hoop with the basketball in his hands. Instead of Sasser’s fear of overthrowing the tosses back to his pitchers, Simmons plays like he’s afraid of getting fouled and then being forced to shoot free throws, where he has converted just 7-of-15 attempts (46.7%) this season. For example, he short-arms floaters when he has opportunities to finish in the restricted area through contact. Even after a terrific play like his steal of Dallas star Luka Doncic’s pass in the closing seconds of Thursday’s fourth quarter in a game that Brooklyn would eventually lose in overtime, Simmons looked like he couldn’t get rid of the ball fast enough. Fortunately, Kevin Durant was trailing the play and tied the game with a dunk.    

Look, this team has a host of issues, including the latest Kyrie Irving drama over his support of a hateful, antisemitic film. I have nothing to add to Irving’s doubling down on his ignorance in Saturday’s postgame press conference that won’t be covered by hundreds of NBA journalists, so I’m sticking to their on-the-court troubles for this post.

And the result of those troubles is that Brooklyn is now 1-5 and in danger of spiraling. No longer can they hold onto the “Well, we had a difficult schedule out of the gate” excuse after shorthanded Indiana, on the second night of a back-to-back, thoroughly outworked them for a 125-116 victory before a disillusioned and disturbed sellout crowd at Barclays Center.

Something has to give. This experiment of pairing Simmons with a second non-shooter like center Nic Claxton is not working. The duo to date has played 97 minutes together, which equates to a tad more than two full games, and the Nets have been outscored by an average of 120-104 per game, per NBA.com. The numbers are even uglier during the 27 minutes Simmons played alongside backup center Day’Ron Sharpe.   

For those who are in the “small sample size, yada, yada, yada” crowd, it’s not unfair that I track the progression when it has been my preseason thesis. In fact, I warned all of you when the Nets accepted Simmons as the featured compensation in February’s blockbuster trade of James Harden to the Sixers that this was going to be the likely hand from the cards. Besides, if you’re not impressed by stats, you can just look at the aesthetics and the underlying problem should be as clear as a cloudless sky.

Nash sees it as well, which is why he has been gradually reducing the minutes the two paint cloggers have shared the court over this four-game losing streak, from 18 minutes in Milwaukee on Wednesday, to 13 minutes in the Dallas barnburner, to a mere 10 minutes together on Saturday night.

Unfortunately, Nash has given preference to the wrong guy. Simmons was always going to be miscast as a small-ball five—he doesn’t have enough experience to effectively communicate as the anchor in a pick-and-roll defense nor does he have rim protection capability or the juice at this juncture to get after it on the defensive boards. According to NBA.com, opponents are shooting 62.5% with Simmons as the closest defender this season, over 20% higher than during his last season in Philadelphia when was an NBA All-Defense First Team honoree.

On offense, Simmons doesn’t even want the ball on short rolls after setting screens—how ironic that we used to deride 6-foot 4 Bruce Brown for his overconfidence in attacking the rim in those situations during the previous two seasons and now we’re agonizing that the 6-foot 10 Simmons isn’t aggressive enough.

If it’s an either/or decision, starting and/or closing, how in the world can Nash pick Simmons over Claxton based on their current performances? Claxton is Brooklyn’s third-leading scorer, top rebounder, and best all-around defender. Cringe all you want at Claxton’s poor free throw rate (38%), but no one can say it has affected his aggressiveness in attacking the basket the way it has Simmons.

The Nets have been functioning best in four-out lineups with Claxton surrounded by players who must be guarded when behind the three-point line. Brooklyn outscored Indiana by three points in that format on Saturday to go up to plus-21 over 65 minutes on the season.

Nash has bigger things to worry about right now than Simmons’ hurt feelings. It’s time for a change. KD/Kyrie/Claxton/Royce O’Neale/Harris should be the Nets’ starting five for Indiana’s rematch on Monday. This is also how the Nets should close. Make it happen.