Still Waiting On The Theoretical Nets
Still Waiting On The Theoretical Nets
One of these days, the Nets will move beyond the theoretical into actuality. You know, with fans getting to see this team as it was envisioned, with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, et al sharing the court in Brooklyn uniforms during an NBA game.
It just won’t happen this week…or maybe next week….or…
With the All-Star break behind them, the Nets return to action on Thursday against Boston for the first of 23 games that will determine their postseason fate. Unfortunately, the team that will take the Barclays Center floor will be only a slightly better version of the depleted one that fell behind, 28-2, in a blowout loss to the Celtics on February 8, bolstered a bit this time by the return of LaMarcus Aldridge and newcomers Seth Curry and Andre Drummond.
Ever since Irving’s right cross to Nets fans’ jaws when he declared in training camp that he would be forgoing the COVID-19 vaccine in violation of the mandate for New York City-based performers, this season has been a series of jabs, uppercuts, and combinations in a constant battering. Irving at first was effectively banned from the team but then was allowed to play road games outside of New York and Toronto starting in January. The hits still kept coming: Players dropping like flies to injuries to the point where Head Coach Steve Nash has been forced to use something like 33 different starting lineup iterations in 59 games. One guy comes back, another one heads to the trainer’s room. James Harden fed up with it all and passive-aggressively engineering his way out of town through indifferent play until he was dealt to Philadelphia in a blockbuster trade for Simmons, Curry, Drummond and two draft picks, breaking up Brooklyn’s short-lived (16 games) Big 3 in the midst of an 11-game losing streak. Murphy’s Law was crying, “Uncle!”
Nets fans, though, still have refused to throw in the towel—for good reasons. When whole, this team can be exceptional. The All-Star break was meant to be a turning point. The bad locker room vibes were supposedly excised and the extra time would allow for the proper integration of four new rotation pieces while injured bodies mended. Nets fans, get pumped to see what this team has down the stretch, right?
Not so fast. Remain muted, folks. Nash confirmed why in his responses to media questions after Wednesday’s practice: Will Durant, the team’s most indispensable player, come back from his sprained MCL for Thursday’s game? Nope, he’s still out, possibly for Saturday’s showdown in Milwaukee as well. What about Simmons, who hasn’t played in an NBA game in eight months? Um, no—he still has a long way to go in his physical and mental ramp-up (though he is doing individual workouts, he has yet to practice with the team). Newly-signed buyout prize Goran Dragic? Are you kidding me? He also needs to shake off the rust from three months of inaction while watching Toronto’s youth movement play out from afar.
There’s no news on NBA three-point shooting champ Joe Harris either—he hasn’t even reached the point of decision whether he can properly rehab his injured ankle enough to play at some point down the road this season or he must shut it down for good. And oh yeah, Thursday is a home game, so Irving has also been ruled out.
So, what are the Nets left with as they get back to work? Basically the same team that lost to the reeling Wizards at home in their last game before the break.
I know, the glass half-full folks will tell you that NYC Mayor Eric Adams finally opened the door a little on Wednesday when mentioning a potential end to the vaccine mandate. When? Who knows? Mr. Net Income from NetsDaily.com predicted an announcement will come when a new Health Commissioner takes office, though he pegs his start date as March 1 instead of the published March 15 date. It makes a difference, and that’s before taking into account the effective date of any rescission.
To say that time is of the essence is an understatement. Brooklyn (31-28) is currently sitting in the Eastern Conference’s eighth seed, 2.5 games behind the sixth-seeded Celtics in the race to avoid the play-in tournament. The calendar is already a factor.
Can a team as stacked with talent as Brooklyn overcome such a low seed and march through the playoff tournament? Anything is possible, but it’s certainly not ideal.
And it will be harder if these guys haven’t been properly introduced on the court. Playoff games are not the time for ironing out kinks—high-level execution is paramount in order to advance.
Maybe in the end this still has a shot to work. Unfortunately, it’s going to be painful for a little while longer until the theoretical Nets reveal themselves on a real basketball court.