The 2022-23 season was an interesting one for the Brooklyn Nets. In a season that started with championship expectations, the Nets’ season ended with just trying to hold on to a playoff spot after trading away Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to end the superstar experiment once and for all.
At one point, Brooklyn was regarded as one of the main contenders in the Eastern Conference with Durant and Irving leading the way. Once the trade deadline came and went, the Nets had a completely different team led by budding star wing Mikal Bridges.
Not to mention, Brooklyn went through a coaching change after Steve Nash was fired following a 2-5 start to this season. Jacque Vaughn is now the head man of a team that is currently in flux thanks to the trades of Durant and Irving. While the offseason is still fresh, it’s a good time to review all of the Nets who played this season starting with: guard Ben Simmons.
(All stats are courtesy of basketball-reference.com).
Traditional Stats:
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6.9 PPG
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6.3 RPG
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6.1 APG
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1.3 SPG
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56.6 FG%
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43.9 FT%
Advanced Stats:
Statistical Ranks:
Contract:
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2023-24: $37.893 million
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2024-25: $40.338 million
Takeaways:
Simmons came into the 2022-23 season with expectations of showing that he could be the third star to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. However, in Simmons’ first six games to start the season, he averaged just 6.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG, and 7.3 APG while averaging 31.5 minutes per game.
It was clear from watching how he operated within Brooklyn’s offense that his passing ability was still there, but that everything else faded. Simmons’ lacked explosiveness in his movements and he appeared to lack confidence in what he wanted to do with the ball in his hands.
There were times where Simmons showed that the talent that made him a three-time All-Star in Philadelphia was still there, such as when he dropped 22 points, eight rebounds, and five assists in a 12-point win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Nov. 20. However, those performances came few and far between as it seemed that whenever Simmons appeared to find his groove, he either had a lackluster effort or missed time due to injury.
Simmons played just 42 games before he was ruled out for the season in March due to a nerve impingement in his back. Up to that point, it seemed that Simmons was struggling on the court as much as he was struggling to stay healthy. Another wrinkle was that after the trade deadline, head coach Jacque Vaughn elected to bring Simmons off the bench in lieu of Spencer Dinwiddie being the lead guard.
If the Nets stay as is, what does that mean for Simmons? Will Brooklyn be okay with paying a bench player $37 million next season? Unfortunately, after having Simmons for 1.5 seasons, Brooklyn still does not have much of an idea how Simmons fits with the team moving forward.
Season grade: D
Story originally appeared on Nets Wire
