"They're right now, as likely to play for a championship as the worst offense in the league, the LA Lakers" - NBA analyst asserts there is one superstar on Nets team, says they have an 'unwinnable' roster
The Brooklyn Nets have disappointed many by their start to the season. While Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving have played well, averaging 32.0 and 27.3 points per game respectively, the team hasn't seen much contribution from Ben Simmons yet.
Simmons was expected to turn Brooklyn's defense around, but that hasn't happened yet as they find themselves among the league's worst defenses so far this season.
NBA analyst Nick Wright believes their roster is not built to win. On "First Things First," he said:
"They have the worst defense in the league. If we do a draft of good things about the Brooklyn Nets and the first pick off the board is employing Kevin Durant, is there a second pick? They are right now, as presently constituted, as likely to play for a championship as the worst offense in the league, the LA Lakers.
"You have the worst offense in the Lakers, the worst defense in Brooklyn. Both have, I'll even give you Kyrie as a superstar even though I don't even think he is a superstar, two stars and broken unwinnable rosters from that point down. They're both drawing dead to play for a championship, much less win a championship."
Ben Simmons has 17 points and 14 fouls this season...
He's fouled out in 2/3 games he's played in https://t.co/048AWiNHs4
While Brooklyn's defense has looked awful so far this season, Simmons is unlikely to continue to foul out this often. He is likely to knock off the rust from missing last season and become more comfortable with his new teammates after each game.
If Simmons returns to the defender who made the All-Defensive Team in his last two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Nets will be competitive. Without the responsibility of running the offense, Brooklyn will hope Simmons will happily accept the challenge of guarding the opponent's best scorer on most nights.
Watch Nick Wright's full comments below:
"The Nets have the worst defense in the league. ... Right now, they're as likely to play for a championship as the worst offense in the league — the Lakers. They both have 2 stars & broken, unwinnable rosters from that point down." — @getnickwright https://t.co/t2yKnrp2Pn
Can the Brooklyn Nets contend for a NBA title?
While their slow start has to be discouraging after such a tumultuous offseason, it is far too early to rule the Nets out. Simmons' slow start has hurt the team and it will be interesting to see what he brings to the team in the upcoming matches.
Joe Harris recently returned from injury and will take some time to get up to speed. However, Seth Curry and T.J. Warren are still out injured.
We will get a clearer picture of Brooklyn's status as title contenders once the starters get more minutes together. It should be noted that the Nets entered the season with one of the deepest rosters in the league.
The Nets *could* just run it back.
Kyrie Irving
Joe Harris
Kevin Durant
Ben Simmons
Nic Claxton
Bench:
Patty Mills
Seth Curry
Royce O’Neale
Cam Thomas
TJ Warren https://t.co/GR4319H0Iy
Simmons must regain his status as a star if the Nets want to compete for a championship.
While he doesn't need to score much, he still needs to be more aggressive on the offensive end. He is averaging just 5.7 points on 4.3 field goal attempts per game this season. Over four seasons in Philadelphia, Simmons averaged 15.9 points on 11.6 field goal attempts per game.
More importantly, Simmons needs to re-establish himself as one of the best all-around defenders in the NBA. He is one of the few players who can guard one-to-five. If he can do that, Brooklyn will be a very hard team to beat.