What To Like/Dislike About Nets’ Preseason
Come Wednesday night, we’ll know. Or at least start the process of knowing. All the drama from the offseason will be set aside and all the preseason questions about fit will be answered when the Nets host the Pelicans in the regular season opener.
If you’re going to base any premise as to who the Nets are on preseason work, which concluded with a 112-102 victory in Minnesota on Friday night, you’re just guessing. The pace, physicality, and pressure will all ramp up when the games count.
Still, there were some positive developments as well as concerns that presented itself over the past two weeks where Brooklyn split their four-game preseason slate. Here then are a few items that I liked, and some that I didn’t like from the Nets’ preseason:
Like—No more serious injuries
I’m not counting three-point shooting marksman Joe Harris yet, because the reports still indicate he’s only experiencing soreness following the preseason opener, an anticipated outcome following his first action since an ankle injury and subsequent surgery prematurely ended his 2021-22 campaign after just 14 games. The Nets are “optimistic” he’ll be ready for the Pelicans with four more days of rest. Seth Curry, another three-point dynamo, didn’t play at all while he rehabbed from his own offseason ankle surgery but isn’t expected to be out for a significant period.
Look, the Nets won’t have a clean injury report sheet for some time given reserve forward T.J. Warren’s continuing recovery from foot surgery. However, the fact that all of the core pieces (Edmund Sumner suffered a hip strain, but the nonguarantees in his contract always made his role as the 15th man a fluid proposition). came out of the games in one piece, especially when stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving were given extended minutes in the last two exhibitions, is cause for celebration.
Like—KD and Kyrie: We still know who they are
Despite the offseason turmoil, both Durant and Irving looked primed for a season of redemption…if, you know, nothing else gets in the way, like injuries, social upheaval, disillusionment, etc. Barring any of that, KD and Kyrie should feel like they have something to prove this season. No team came close to matching Durant’s worth when he demanded a trade out of Brooklyn this summer and Irving will be playing on an expiring contract when the Nets didn’t extend him and the free agent market for his services proved thin. From what we’ve seen against admittedly softer defenses this preseason, both players are still virtuosos with a basketball in their hands and capable of wrecking any opponent game plan on any night. Should they continue their all-business attitude into the regular season, that makes Brooklyn a very dangerous team.
Like—Ball movement galore
We’ll see what happens in fourth quarters of tight games when KD and Kyrie will have to resist the urge to go at defenses alone. For now, the Nets are running more sets and moving the ball with way more frequency than last season, when they relied on isolations on a league-high 10.8% of their offensive possessions, per NBA.com’s tracking data. Give Ben Simmons some credit here, since passing can be contagious and he’s made some exquisite ones. His head is always up, whether it’s looking for get-ahead tosses or cross-court bullets to three-point shooters in the opposite corners. I thought the last two games against heavy paint protectors Milwaukee and Minnesota were good tests—I noticed fewer garbage at the rim in favor of extra passes that led to cleaner looks.
Dislike—Simmons spacing
As I mentioned in my last post, you can excuse Simmons for any rustiness from not playing since June 2021 as he dealt with physical (back surgery) and mental issues. However, opponents will know that he’s “reluctant” to shoot outside of ten feet, which presents a huge spacing problem for the Nets when he shares the floor with a non-shooting center like Nic Claxton. Interior passing always comes with a high turnover risk—when defenses only have to play Simmons for the pass, that risk is elevated. Can the Nets make defenses pay for sloughing off Simmons with dribble-handoffs to Brooklyn’s shooters, or will the defenses find ways to counter that? Don’t judge by the preseason—I’m just warning you it might not work against the top defensive teams.
Dislike—Free Throw bricks
Usually a silent killer, I’d expect teams to employ the more obvious “hack-a” strategy at the end of quarters more often to send Simmons and Claxton to the line. Can they even make 1-of-2? It’s a tossup. Claxton did convert both of his free throws on Friday night but that just boosted his preseason percentage to 50%. Simmons, meanwhile, is still a mess from the stripe, going 1-for-6 in the four games. As a team, the Nets shot 73.6% from the line. which ranked 23rd in the league in the preseason. That’s nearly the identical rate they posted in their four-game sweep at the hands of Boston in the 2022 Eastern Conference quarterfinals. It isn’t good enough.
Like—Big lineups
When the Nets started Durant, Irving, Simmons, Claxton, and Royce O’Neale the last two games, it seemed to me like a Welcome to the Modern NBA moment. Finally, this team had enough length and grit where it could compete with all the physical opponents who will stand in their path. Head Coach Steve Nash even doubled down on big lineups by using Markieff Morris and Day’Ron Sharpe together off the bench. As a result, there was a noticeable uptick in defensive and rebounding activity, a sore spot for the last few seasons. There was a little too much fouling, but that’s something that can possibly be cleaned up as the group gets more reps together…if Nash allows them to get more reps together. He will surely face a conundrum when Curry returns. Curry and Patty Mills are too similar in both their sizes and games for them to share the court, yet I’d bet that Nash will be tempted to do just that. Nash might even throw Irving into that mix to form the same type of defensively-deficient lineup that will always struggle against the NBA’s elite. It bears watching—as I wrote above, we’ll know for sure next week.