Getty Kevin Durant (left) and Kyrie Irving of the Brooklyn Nets.
The Brooklyn Nets have a lot to feel good about going forward because some of last season’s drama has been erased. And if everybody is healthy and eligible to start the year, the Nets are looking at a new Big Three consisting of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Ben Simmons.
On paper, it looks like a good team, but not a lock to make a run at an NBA champion. That, though, could happen if the Nets were to shake up their roster yet again, according to Bleacher Report’s Greg Swartz.
In a May 30 opinion piece, Swartz wrote that to become a “no-brainer title contender” the Nets could consider unloading Simmons, who still hasn’t played a single game of Brooklyn, for one of the league’s top centers.
Gobert ‘a Terrific Lob Threat’
GettyRudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz.
In Swartz’s proposed trade, the Nets would acquire Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert to create a “new superteam core” of Durant, Irving and Gobert. Going to the Jazz would be Simmons, center Nic Claxton (sign-and-trade) and the Nets’ 23rd overall draft pick, which they got from the Philadelphia 76ers.
Irving and Durant could still be the Nets’ primary playmakers and wouldn’t have to worry about incorporating Simmons into the offense.
“Having Gobert, a three-time Defensive Player of the Year, as an anchor at center next to Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving would be a huge improvement for a Nets team that will continually face players like Joel Embiid, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Bam Adebayo and Pascal Siakam in playoff runs,” Swartz wrote. “Gobert was also the NBA’s best rebounder last season (14.7 per game) to go along with his 15.6 points on a league-best 71.3 percent shooting. He’d be a terrific lob threat for Irving, and this Nets team has enough shooting (Irving, Durant, Seth Curry, Joe Harris, Patty Mills) that Gobert’s lack of floor spacing on offense shouldn’t be an issue.”
Of course, such a trade would break up the Jazz’s core of Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, a duo that has been knocked out of the Western Conference playoffs in the first round three times and the semifinals twice in their five years together.
Responding to frequent speculation that a rift between Gobert and Mitchell exists, Mitchell said in April the two “trust each other,” according to Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. And ESPN’s Eric Windhorst reported on April 22: “I have been told that Donovan and Rudy are in a better place now than they were earlier this year. And that there is a spirit of working together.”
Simmons in ‘Draymond Green-like Role’
GettyKyrie Irving (left) and Kevin Durant of the Brooklyn Nets.
While the Nets would get a defensive stalwart in the lineup, the Jazz would get one of the NBA’s top players (when he’s healthy).
Simmons hasn’t played a game since May 14, 2021, as he recovered from a back injury. He was expected to make his season debut in time for the Eastern Conference playoffs and help the Nets’ new Big Three lead Brooklyn deep into the postseason. But his reported focus on his mental health kept him out of uniform as the Nets were swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics.
“Getting Simmons out of the big-city spotlights of Philadelphia and New York in favor of Salt Lake City should help with his return to the court,” Swartz wrote.
Noting the Jazz’s frequently underwhelming perimeter defense, Swartz wrote that Simmons, who’s averaged 1.7 steals per game across four seasons, would improve the Jazz.
“Simmons is arguably the best [perimeter defender] in the league when healthy. It’s easy to see head coach Quin Snyder using Simmons in a Draymond Green-like role in a starting lineup with Mike Conley Jr., Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic and now Claxton as the team’s starting center,” Swartz wrote. “While Claxton isn’t nearly the defensive force and rebounder that Gobert is, he’s still just 23 and could be signed for a fourth of the salary.”
Gobert, who be 30 when the new season starts, will enter the second year of a five-year, $205 million contract. Meanwhile, 23-year-old Claxton is set to make $2.2 million in the final year of his rookie deal. He had his best year as a pro in 2021-22, scoring 8.6 points a game and pulling down 5.6 rebounds in 20.7 minutes a game.
A starting lineup of Irving, Seth Curry, Joe Harris, Durant and Gobert could definitely be something other teams worry about.
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