A lost season, but bright future ahead
After a whirlwind of a year that included a coaching change and not one but two blockbuster trades the Brooklyn Nets season has come to an end. Mikal Bridges and Brooklyn failed to capture a game from the 76ers and see themselves as first round exits with a lot of questions ahead. Main question being, what is the path to making this a championship contending roster again after unloading two of the NBA’s top talents this season at the deadline? The current Nets roster is a mix of young talent with aging veterans and no real superstar. They do have a couple bright spots to build around though. For starters they have young center Nicolas Claxton who had a breakout year with the team and was a vital part of the starting lineup for the entirety of the season. Claxton finished the season averaging a near double-double with 12.6 points and 9.2 rebounds while shooting 70% from the field. Claxton would really make his impact felt on the defensive side of the ball using his 6’11” frame to block 2.5 blocks a game. Claxton is someone who the Nets will have to make a priority to sign long term as the 24 year old becomes an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season and could come at a hefty price for Brooklyn. Luckily for the Nets their other blossoming young star Mikal Bridges is signed through the 2025-26 season. Bridges was the main piece brought in through the Kevin Durant trade at the deadline alongside Cam Johnson, Jae Crowder who was subsequently moved to Milwaukee, and four unprotected future first round picks. In Phoenix Bridges was mainly seen as a prototypical 3 and D wing averaging 17 points a game on 38% from behind the arc. He would then see an increase in usage rate from 19.2% in Phoenix to 30.3% in Brooklyn. Bridges would then have an offensive explosion and average 26 points a game including multiple 40 point games and a career high 45 against Miami. If Bridges can continue on this trajectory then he may be able to become one of the league's elite two-way players. Sean Marks, GM of the Nets, has some work to do to fill out the roster around these two young talents.
The Nets this year don’t have many impending free agents this year with 5 and 3 of them being restricted free agents. Most notably Cam Johnson who was acquired in the Kevin Durant trade and averaged 16 points for the Nets to end the season shooting 38% from the three point line. Cam Johnson is also a more than capable defender and averaged 1.5 steals a game for Brooklyn. Johnson is a RFA this year which allows the Nets to match any free agency offer he receives. If the Nets are focused on getting younger this season we could see them let 32 year Seth Curry walk this offseason. Curry, often seen as a sharpshooter, shot 40% from three this season, but doesn’t really fit the timeline of the rest of the Nets roster. Unfortunately the Nets are well over the cap for this offseason by about $12 million dollars, so there aren't really any major moves that they can make. They do have the ability to create up to $64.4 million dollars in cap space next offseason though. With this being said we could see this next year be more of a developmental season and the Nets trying to make more of a splash next offseason once their cap opens up.
The future in Brooklyn looks bright with two young emerging stars in Claxton and Bridges. They even have some nice role players around these two with some solid defenders in Dorian Finney-Smith, acquired in the Kyrie Irving trade, and Cam Johnson. They have a very young creator in Cam Thomas as well who came off the bench for Brooklyn and provided multiple 40 point games. On top of all this they have a plethora of draft picks later down the line with multiple first round picks from Phoenix, firsts from Dallas and Philadelphia, and a multitude of second round picks. These can all be used to help bring in young talent or help build out the roster through trades. The Nets have multiple paths in front of them to bounce back from the failure that was the KD, Kyrie, and Harden era. There is one question that remains, what is to be done with Ben Simmons? The young player has never been able to regain his All-NBA form and his future as a top talent is looking bleak. He’s dealt with major injuries to his back and has struggled to provide much of anything on the offensive end. Maybe there is still a future in the league for Simmons, but it is hard to believe that it is in Brooklyn at this point considering his fit alongside Claxton. It may take a few years to climb the Eastern Conference standings, but the Nets have the assets to help get them there.