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One month ago, life was all sunshine and roses for fans of the Brooklyn Nets.
Brooklyn had won nine of its last 10 games and moved into second place in the NBA’s Eastern Conference, just behind the Boston Celtics.
But nothing is ever straightforward when you have Kyrie Irving on your team. The final victory of that 10-game stretch was a 102-101 win over the Miami Heat. It didn’t come without a cost, however. Superstar forward Kevin Durant sprained his MCL in victory.
The injury put Durant on the shelf for four weeks and counting. The Nets are just 4-8 since Durant went down and things became even worse when Irving dropped a bombshell of a trade request on Feb. 3.
Forty-eight hours later, Brooklyn traded the seven-time All-Star point to the Dallas Mavericks in return for Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith and host of NBA Draft picks.
That left the organization in limbo. Are they still trying to win now? Are they in rebuild mode? Would Durant ask for a trade prior to Thursday’s deadline?
These are all questions that appear yet to be answered.
But one thing is certain. If the Nets opt to trade Durant, there will be no shortage of suitors.
Any rebuild, however, would likely require Brooklyn to move on from 26-year-old forward Ben Simmons. Simmons is in the third year of a five-year, $177 million max contract signed prior to the 2020 season.
Brooklyn acquired the three-time NBA All-Star from the Philadelphia 76ers in a trade involving superstar point guard James Harden last season. But Simmons has failed to hold up his end of the deal. After sitting out the entire 2021-22 season, he’s averaging just 7.4 points, 6.4 assists and 6.5 rebounds in 37 games this season. He’s also missed 15 games already this season.
ESPN Insider Reports That Ben Simmons Doesn’t Have ‘Any’ Trade Value
Now ESPN insider Bobby Marks reports that Brooklyn could struggle to find a trade partner in a Simmons deal.
A couple of Nets notes from @BobbyMarks42 on @KeyJayandMax:
1. Ben Simmons has no value around the league right now in any potential deal.
2. If the Nets decide to move KD — their return would be greater this summer than it would be before Thursday’s trade deadline.
— Nick Friedell (@NickFriedell) February 6, 2023
“I don’t think Ben Simmons has any value,” Marks said on ESPN’s Keyshawn, JWill and Max show. “He can’t stay on the court. I think he has the one word that is the worst word in the NBA: ‘unreliable.’ You can trust him and he’s unreliable.”
Trading Durant, who is in the first of a four-year contract, will likely (*ahem*) net Brooklyn a massive haul even if he asks out. But with Simmons still hanging around, Nets general manager Sean Marks still has hit work cut out for him to begin a rebuild.