The Brooklyn Nets have begun an offseason that could turn into a firesale very quickly by trading Mikal Bridges to the crosstown rival New York Knicks in exchange for a plethora of future first round draft picks. The Bridges trade could potentially signal the end of the post-Kevin Durant “era,” if that word is applicable here, for the Nets that saw the team struggle in mediocrity for one and a half seasons before ultimately pulling the plug on the Bridges experiment.
One notable name who is still on the Nets is Ben Simmons, who fans would be forgiven for having forgotten about due to the fact that, well, he hardly ever plays. Simmons was sent to Brooklyn as part of the James Harden trade with the Philadelphia 76ers in 2022 but has yet to make any sort of impact on the organization, making it seem less and less likely that he will ever come close to fulfilling the immense potential he showed throughout his first few years in the league.
Recently, Simmons' public perception reached an all-time low point when it was announced that his NBA 2k 25 rating would be a 66 overall. One person who couldn't help but mock the former All-Star was none other than former NBA big man Shaquille O'Neal, who wrote, “should b lower” under an Instagram post from @basketballforever showcasing the rating.
In the days since leaving the 76ers, Ben Simmons has dealt with immense public scrutiny for the fact that he's hardly ever on the floor, and has apparently put in zero work to fix his jump shooting ability during the rare times when he is on it.
A rebuild in Brooklyn?
As previously mentioned, the Mikal Bridges trade would seem to indicate the start of a potential full-scale rebuild for the Nets. While it does hurt to lose one of the better two-way wings in the NBA, the reality is that the Nets got more first round picks for Bridges than have been traded for Kevin Durant, Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, and others in recent blockbuster deals, meaning that the general consensus around the league is that they got the better of the Knicks in that transaction.
Still, it's going to most likely lead to a lot more losing in the short term, as well as a look around the locker room at what other names could potentially be on the move. Although center Nic Claxton is here to stay after signing a contract extension recently, players like Cam Johnson and the recently acquired Bojan Bogdanovic could certainly be enticing for contending teams looking to add more shooting.
It's been a while since the Nets fully embraced a rebuild as opposed to being forced into one. The team has tried two separate “star driven” iterations of the team and neither has been able to reach the conference finals, let alone compete for a championship. Perhaps building a team organically from the ground up will yield Brooklyn better long term results, even if it causes some short term misery.
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