The Brooklyn Nets entered 2021-22 as the biggest favorites for the 2022 NBA championship, ahead of the Los Angeles Lakers and the Milwaukee Bucks. Kyrie Irving was unable to start the year for Brooklyn due to vaccination issues. 14 games into the 2021 season, Joe Harris was struck down with an ankle injury, which sidelined him for the rest of the year. The Nets didn’t miss a beat without their starting backcourt, racing out to a 22-9 record after their Christmas day victory over LeBron James and the Lakers.

On January 15th, MVP candidate Kevin Durant suffered a sprained MCL in a game against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Nets stumbled without KD, dropping 11 games in a row from the end of January through the middle of February. James Harden faltered under his increased role, no longer the player he was in Houston, capable of strapping his teammates on his back and pushing them to victory. The Beard grew disenchanted with the Nets’ injury-riddled roster and asked to leave. He eventually got his way hours before the trade deadline as Brooklyn and Philadelphia consummated a deal that sent Harden and Paul Millsap to the City of Brotherly Love for Ben Simmons, Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, and two first-round picks.

Kevin Durant came back from injury in early March, and New York relaxed their vaccination policies, allowing Kyrie Irving to join Brooklyn as a full-time player. Still, Ben Simmons never suited up for the Nets because of mental issues and a lower back injury, and Brooklyn lurched toward the finish line, ending the regular season with a 44-38 record. After winning their play-in game against the Cleveland Cavaliers, the Nets entered the postseason as the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference. They were promptly dispatched by the Boston Celtics in four easy First Round games, ending the 2021-22 season trailing only the Lakers as the most disappointing team of the year.

Brooklyn has Kevin Durant locked up for four more years, and Kyrie Irving (2022-23 player option) has said he wants to re-up with the Nets. Brooklyn also has Ben Simmons under contract through 2025, Joe Harris inked through 2024, and Seth Curry signed through next season.

The rest of Brooklyn’s roster is up in the air. Key role players Bruce Brown, Goran Dragic, Andre Drummond, LaMarcus Aldridge, and Blake Griffin are unrestricted free agents. Backup point guard, Patty Mills, has a player option for next season, and big man Nic Claxton enters the offseason as a restricted free agent.

The Nets will presumably have (we’re assuming Kyrie Irving stays true to his word and signs a long-term contract) most of their cash tied up in their foursome of Durant, Irving, Simmons, and Harris with hardly any wiggle room to add depth and defensive help to their roster.

Below, we’ll break down five trades to help the Brooklyn Nets round out their roster and compete for a title next season.

The Nets Add Depth From The Wizards

Brooklyn Nets Receive: Kyle Kuzma, Rui Hachimura, Daniel Gafford

Washington Wizards Receive: Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton (sign and trade)

Brooklyn Nets Starting Lineup:

PG: Kyrie Irving

SG: Joe Harris

SF: Kyle Kuzma

PF: Kevin Durant

C: Daniel Gafford

Ben Simmons on the Nets is wonderful in theory. Simmons is a 6-11 point guard who guards all five positions on the court as a top-5 defender in the NBA. He balances out his defensive greatness on the offensive end as one of the most skilled passers in the league who also finishes hard at the rim.

Unfortunately, the Nets need more than theories at this point. Kevin Durant will be 34 next season, and Kyrie Irving isn’t getting any younger either. The bright lights of big market Brooklyn might be too much for Ben Simmons, a player who has been suffering from mental health issues after choking at the end of game seven during last year’s playoffs against the Atlanta Hawks.

The Nets land three high-quality role players in our trade.

Kyle Kuzma began his career with the Lakers as a one-way player who showed little to no interest in playing defense during his first two seasons in the league. Defensive guru Frank Vogel became the Lakers’ head coach in Kuzma’s third campaign, and he helped transform him into a better-than-average defensive wing. Kuz played an essential role for the Purple and Gold during their 2020 title run as a player with the side-to-side agility to guard smaller players on the perimeter and the know-how to execute the excellent pick-and-roll defense.

Kyle Kuzma was traded to the Wizards last summer, and he averaged 17.1 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 3.5 APG, and 34.1 3P% throughout the 2021-22 season. Kuz would slide nicely into the Nets’ starting lineup, providing solid all-around defense for a Brooklyn team that finished the year ranked 19th in the NBA in DEFRTG. Kuzma would also provide KD and Irving with floor spacing from the wing position, and he’s a solid finisher at the rim in half-court sets or out in transition.

Daniel Gafford is a dependable defensive center who would be an instant upgrade over Andre Drummond. Gafford offers the type of rim protection NBA organizations covet. He ended the season with 1.4 blocks per game, and he allowed opposing players to shoot only 55.4% on their attempts within six feet of the rim, 8.5% under their normal average. Gafford would provide the Nets the type of consistent backline defense they lacked in 2021-22.

Rui Hachimura, 23, is the most talented player the Nets would receive in our proposed deal. He’s an uber-competitive forward who has one of the most powerful motors in the league. Rui Hachimura averaged 11.3 PPG, 3.8 RPG, and 1.1 APG while shooting 44.7% from deep as the Wizards’ sixth man during the regular season. He’d join the Nets and supply energy and outside shooting.

As for the Wizards, they’d jump at the chance to make this trade despite the inherent risks.

Ben Simmons hasn’t played in a year, and nobody knows what he’ll look like when he returns. Still, a foursome of Bradley Beal, Kristaps Porzingis, Nic Claxton, and Ben Simmons would be intriguing and potentially deadly.

Brooklyn Trades Ben Simmons For Two Good Players

Brooklyn Nets Receive: Malcolm Brogdon, Myles Turner

Indiana Pacers Receive: Ben Simmons, Nic Claxton (sign and trade)

Brooklyn Nets Starting Lineup:

PG: Malcolm Brogdon

SG: Kyrie Irving

SF: Joe Harris

PF: Kevin Durant

C: Myles Turner

The Nets would trade Ben Simmons, a player who missed the entire 2021-22 season, for Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner, two athletes who missed significant time with injuries during the regular season.

There are major risks involved with this deal.

The Nets would have to roll the dice on Brogdon and Turner, two professionals who’d excel next to Durant and Irving.

Malcolm Brogdon averaged 19.1 PPG, 5.9 APG, and 5.1 RPG in 2021-22. He’d be an excellent third wheel next to Durant and Irving, a player who’d provide the ancillary scoring and playmaking the Nets were dying for in the playoffs against the Celtics. Brogdon’s drive game is slow but effective, and he also has the type of mid-range jumper that would make it impossible for opposing teams to load up on the Nets All-Star duo. Brogdon has a career -0.5 Defensive Box Plus/Minus and is far from a lockdown defender, but that’s where Myles Turner would step in.

Myles Turner is a two-time Blocks champion who ended the season with an 8.3 block percentage, a mark that would have easily led the league if he’d played enough games to qualify for the leaderboard. Turner would allow the Nets to play a Jazz-style defensive scheme. Brogdon, Irving, and Joe Harris are all subpar perimeter defenders, but they could crowd their assignments beyond the arc, taking away their three-point attempts, knowing Turner was waiting in the lane providing his most accurate depiction of Rudy Gobert’s maul-every-opposing-player-in-the-lane backline defense.

Malcolm Brogdon and Myles Turner have checkered injury histories, but both players are under 30-years-old, and neither has suffered a significant athleticism-sapping knee or Achilles tear. The Nets would feature a championship core if Brogdon and Turner stay healthy next season.

The Pacers, meanwhile, are a small market team that struggles to attract big-name free agents. They’d have to take a flier on Ben Simmons, a top-15 player who, when he’s right, is a transformative two-way player. Nic Claxton is also a young defensive center with the ability to guard positions 1 through 5. The combination of Simmons and Claxton would terrorize opposing offenses.

The Nets And Kings Come To An Agreement

Brooklyn Nets Receive: Harrison Barnes, Richaun Holmes

Sacramento Kings Receive: Ben Simmons

Brooklyn Nets Starting Lineup:

PG: Kyrie Irving

SG: Joe Harris

SF: Harrison Barnes

PF: Kevin Durant

C: Richaun Holmes

The Nets are loaded with offensive talent. Kevin Durant is one of the premier all-around scorers of all time. Kyrie Irving breaks down NBA defenders like they’re JV high school players, and Joe Harris is one of the leading three-point shooters in NBA history. Brooklyn doesn’t need to add scoring threats. Instead, they must upgrade their bottom-tier defense during the offseason.

Ben Simmons was supposed to be their answer on the less fun end, but there’s no guarantee he’ll get over his mental health issues by next season. Nets management would be wise to import Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes from the Kings, two excellent defenders who’d instantly help shore up their leaky ship.

Harrison Barnes put up one of the most impressive 3-and-D seasons in the NBA this season, but nobody noticed. That’s what playing in Sacramento will do to a player.

Barnes averaged 16.4 PPG, 5.6 RPG, 2.4 APG, and 39.4% in 2021-22. His defensive metrics don’t jump off the screen and shout out, “excellent defender!” Still, he played on a Sacramento team that had next to no interest in getting stops. Harrison Barnes has the size and foot speed to guard positions 1 through 4 on the court, and he was one of Golden State’s best perimeter defenders during their 2015 championship run. Barnes would jump into the Nets’ starting lineup and provide them with the type of individual wing defense they’ve needed for the previous two seasons as a player capable of slowing down Jimmy Butler, Jayson Tatum, or Khris Middleton in one-on-one situations.

Richaun Holmes is one of the most effective defensive centers in the league. He has a top-10 motor and plays excellent pick-and-roll defense, eating up space in the lane while also delivering high-level rim protection. Holmes would join the Nets and give them an instant upgrade at the 5 position.

Harrison Barnes and Richaun Holmes aren’t flashy names, but they’d supply the Nets with the type of reliable defensive energy they need to advance in the postseason.

The Kings are another small-market team that has suffered through lottery hell for what seems like forever. They have no shot of landing an All-Star caliber player in free agency and should take a chance on Ben Simmons regaining his previous form.

The Nets Find A Trade With Their Innercity Rival

Brooklyn Nets Receive: Julius Randle, Nerlens Noel

New York Knicks Receive: Ben Simmons

Brooklyn Nets Starting Lineup:

PG: Kyrie Irving

SG: Joe Harris

SF: Kevin Durant

PF: Julius Randle

C: Nerlens Noel

After making the All-Star team last year, Julius Randle’s game fell off a cliff this season for the Knicks. He shot 30.8% from deep and 41.1% overall from the field as he finished 2021-22 with a -9.4 point differential, one of the poorest marks in the league. Despite Randle’s scoring struggles, he played excellent individual defense, holding his assignments to -4.2% under their normal average. He also ranked 16th in the NBA in defensive rebound percentage (25.5%), and he was one of the most productive passing big men in the association with a 25.1 assist percentage.

Julius Randle might not be the All-NBA player that Knicks fans were hoping for, but he’d fit nicely on the Nets. Randle would shift from the first option on offense on an undermanned NY squad to the third option behind Durant and Irving for Brooklyn. Orange Julius wouldn’t have to jack up wild three-pointers or mid-range jumpers for the Nets. Instead, he could focus on what he excels at, defense, rebounding, playmaking, and attacking the basket.

Nerlens Noel played in only 25 games for the Knicks this season, suffering from plantar fasciitis in his left foot throughout much of the year. However, Noel has proven he’s one of the best short-burst defenders in the league, a player capable of anchoring a top-10 defense for 24 to 28 minutes nightly. Noel averaged 1.2 blocks per game across 22.5 minutes per game in 2021-22, and he held opposing players to a 54.9% shooting mark at the rim, 10.9% under their normal shooting average. Nerlens Noel isn’t merely a stay-at-home-in-the-lane center. He’s more than capable of switching onto wings or guards and stifling them from the perimeter.

Julius Randle and Nerlens Noel would provide the Nets with the type of defensive upgrade that would make them genuine championship contenders next season.

As for the Knicks, our trade would be risky as hell. New York has been known to break players (just ask Julius Randle), and Ben Simmons could go on strike again if Knicks fans turn on him. Still, NY finished the season with a 37-45 record, and they are miles away from competing for a championship. A combination of a mentally healthy Ben Simmons with RJ Barrett and Mitchell Robinson would be an excellent start to building a future title contender.

The Nets Land Two Unselfish Players

Brooklyn Nets Receive: Lonzo Ball, Alex Caruso

Chicago Bulls Receive: Ben Simmons

Brooklyn Nets Starting Lineup:

PG: Kyrie Irving

SG: Lonzo Ball

SF: Joe Harris

PF: Kevin Durant

C: Andre Drummond

The Nets would be thrilled to trade Ben Simmons and the uncertainty surrounding him for a pair of excellent two-way guards in Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso.

Lonzo Ball was sidelined for more than half the season with a knee injury. However, while Ball was on the court, he was one of the premier point guards in the Eastern Conference. Lonzo Ball averaged 13.0 PPG, 5.4 RPG, and 5.1 APG while shooting 42.3% from deep off 7.4 attempts per game. Lonzo Ball did all the dirty work for the Bulls, cutting down the opposing squad’s point guard and holding his covers to an excellent 46.0% clip from the field. He was also a disruptive force on the less fun end, averaging 3.2 deflections and 1.1 loose balls recovered nightly. Ball did his part on offense as well, morphing into one of the most effective high-volume floor spreaders in the association while providing excellent playmaking.

Alex Caruso is one of the most talented perimeter defenders in the league, an athlete who routinely cools off the elite offensive players throughout the league. Carushow ended the year fifth in the league in deflections with 3.4 per game, and Dunks and Threes ranked him in the 94th percentile among all NBA players in their Estimated Defensive Plus/Minus rating. Caruso was more than a defensive specialist. He showed excellent playmaking skills this season and flashed a solid drive game.

With Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso healthy and on the court, the Bulls featured a top-10 defense. Ball and Caruso would bring that same type of whirlwind perimeter defense to the Nets, helping them stifle the Eastern Conference’s premier backcourt players.

Bulls fans might initially scoff at trading Ball and Caruso for Simmons, but Chicago is down 3 games to 1 in the First Round of the playoffs, facing a gentleman’s sweep against a Bucks team without All-Star Khris Middleton. Sure, Lonzo Ball isn’t in the lineup for Chicago, but does anybody believe his presence would be the difference between a First Round exit and a title?

The Bulls don’t have enough to advance deep in the Eastern Conference playoffs. A healthy Ben Simmons could be a difference-maker for them, a player who, when he’s right, has the type of defensive upside that could help DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine make a deep march through the NBA’s second season.

Brooklyn Might Look To Move Ben Simmons During The Offseason

Only one year ago, during the 2020-21 season, Ben Simmons was an All-Star, averaging 14.3 PPG, 7.2 RPG, and 6.9 APG while finishing ninth in the NBA in Defensive Win Shares (3.3), the only backcourt player in the top-10. Still, one year can make a tremendous difference.

Simmons had a disastrous run in last year’s playoffs and missed the entire 2021-22 season. He morphed from a borderline superstar into a player who wouldn’t suit up because of mental health issues.

Ben Simmons’s future is uncertain. After Brooklyn barely posed a challenge to the Boston Celtics in the First Round, they need to regroup by adding defensive depth to their roster. The Nets will not get an All-Star for Simmons, but he still has trade value. The Wizards, Pacers, Kings, Knicks, or Bulls could be willing to take a chance on Ben Simmons, and Brooklyn should jump at any of our proposed trades.

Next

The Brooklyn Nets Current Players’ Status For The 2022-23 Season: Kyrie Irving Promises He Will Re-Sign, Ben Simmons Is Set To Make $35.5 Million

NBA Teams With The Most Championships: Los Angeles Lakers And Boston Celtics Are Tied With 17 Championships

Golden State Warriors Can Acquire Rudy Gobert For Andrew Wiggins, Jonathan Kuminga, And James Wiseman

A 3-Team Blockbuster Deal That Would Be Perfect For The Lakers, Hornets, And Pacers

5 Blockbuster Trades The NBA Fans Would Love Or Hate To See

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