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Join Nets Insider's Rick Laughland and Randy Zellea of Back Sports Page as they recap the Brooklyn Nets 2020-2021 season and playoff run that fell short of title aspirations.
Nets Insider Podcast: Season Recap, No Sleep in Brooklyn
With Mavs on verge of hiring Jason Kidd, Nets fans left wondering what went wrong for him in Brooklyn
Following the Nets' playoff ousting, Kidd met with the team's front office to essentially demand more personnel control with general manager Billy King making some questionable roster moves.
Brooklyn did not allow Kidd to expand his role to include roster decisions, but allowed him to interview with other clubs, including Milwaukee.
Kidd had an outstanding relationship with Marc Lasry, the co-owner of the Milwaukee Bucks and formerly with the Nets.
Brooklyn ultimately traded Kidd that off-season with the franchise legend abruptly concluding his brief one year stint as Brooklyn's head coach.
Kidd spent four years in Milwaukee, qualifying for the playoffs twice but failing to get out of the first round.
After his firing with the Bucks, Kidd spent the last two years as a Lakers assistant coach, but his name emerged both this offseason and last year as a top coaching candidate for various openings across the league.
While Kidd's perceived attempt to undermine King rubbed some people the wrong way, in retrospect, Nets fans can't help but think how much different things would have turned out had the team given Kidd more control and demoted King as he was eventually reassigned within the organization anyway.
Brooklyn can play the what if game regarding this year's playoffs impacted by injuries to the team, or Kidd's ultimate decision to leave the organization, but now with his third stop as a head coach, perhaps inheriting a team led by Luka Doncic will be just what he needs to enjoy playoff success.
Sign and trade most likely scenario for Spencer Dinwiddie, Nets
Spencer Dinwiddie deserves the lucrative deal coming his way this off-season, but the long-term contract and salary level he'll command during free agency probably won't come from Brooklyn's front office.
Nets' GM Sean Marks understands this reality and as crafty and shrewd as there is across the league, Brooklyn's front office executive will aim to get something in return for the G-league standout turned borderline NBA All-Star.
Brooklyn will carefully evaluate its bench rotation and supporting cast around Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and James Harden and will look to the buyout market prior to next year's trade deadline and veteran ring chasers willing to accept minimum deals to win the NBA finals.
It will be prudent for Marks to at least assure Dinwiddie earns the contract he deserves, while Brooklyn can take his wish list and find the best deal for the future of the franchise and player alike.
Nets should not listen to any trade offers for Irving, Durant or Harden as all three are simply untouchable
Nine regular season games and five playoff games, that's the sample size Nets fans and the NBA world got with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and James Harden fully healthy and together. The idea that Sean Marks would entertain offers for one or any of his star players is simply outrageous. Each star is arguably the best at their given position and were not the reason why Brooklyn went home early during the playoffs. Untimely injuries, Steve Nash's unwillingness to expand his bench rotation, and the scoring struggles of Joe Harris were all contributing factors to the team's second round ousting. The fact remains, the Nets newly former superteam has win-it-all or bust expectations, and rightly so, but trading any of the three stars who want to be in Brooklyn a long-time is not a route that Marks should even explore.
Now is the time for the Nets' general manager to throw out the one word all three players want to hear, untouchable. Unequivocally, Irving and Durant teamed up to be together in Brooklyn and recruited HArden, whose exit from Houston was anything but smooth, to join forces with them. By even fielding offers for any of the three, Marks is playing a dangerous game and can alienate or cause a rift with any or all of his three stars that could result in irreparable damage. Durant, Irving and Harden, all listen to critiques of them by fans and the media, but if they know their general manager and coach have their backs, the loyalty Brooklyn can build will their stars will prove invaluable.
It's always the job of a team's executives to find the right pieces to mesh on his roster and build a championship contending squad, but the Nets were knocking on the door despite a rash of unlucky injuries to their premier players. Now is the time to run it back, not tinker with a nucleus that will not only have championship potential, but championship expectations next season. Outside of the Big three, the Nets' should absolutely look at any or all avenues to improve the club, but exploring any trade scenarios that involve Irving, Durant or Harden is something the Marks needs to avoid at all costs.
Nets assistant coaching exodus is a blessing in disguise
On Tuesday, the Boston Celtics hired Brooklyn Nets assistant, Ime Udoka, to be their head coach as he was appointed by coach-turned general manager, Brad Stevens.
Mike Dantoni is interviewing for a second time with the Portland Trailblazers and is a finalist for the head coaching gig in the Pacific Northwest. Both men are talented coaches and brought a lot to the table, but sometimes change is good for an organization that fell short of its goals, even though injuries played a major part.
Steve Nash leaned heavily on his former coach, Dantoni, to guide him in his first head coaching job with the Nets, and his inexperience and risk adverse lineup decisions were part of Brooklyn's issues that saw the team fall in seven games to the Bucks in the playoffs.
While Nash's job is safe, some fresh perspective in the huddle and in meeting rooms may be the best thing that happened to a Nets squad that unraveled due to injury and fought valiantly in defeat.
James Harden making sensible decision and withdrawing from Team USA due to hamstring injury
You can finally exhale Nets fans. Just days after committing to play with Team USA in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics this summer, Nets guard James Harden will use the summer to rest and rehab the grade 2 hamstring strain he suffered during the playoff run. The injury landed HArden on the injured list twice during the regular season and he reaggravated the injury in the opening seconds of the Nets-Bucks Game 1 semifinal round.
The Nets initially announced that Harden's hamstring injury was simply tightness, but following an epic Game 7 loss to the Bucks, the shooting guard revealed to reporters that the injury was indeed much more severe than he or the team let on. Harden tried to gut it out in Game 5 scoring zero points and with no practice time, while scoring 16 points in Game 6 and 22 points in Game 7.
While Harden looked to be progressing with each passing game, he ran a sizeable risk of reinjuring and worsening the injury, which would have effectively ended his season or cause additional damage. Civic pride is one thing, but preserving his body and getting back to full strength in time for training camp is paramount for Harden, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to make another title run.Nets‘ James Harden has withdrawn from Team USA coming off his hamstring injury during the postseason, sources said. https://t.co/aQKSKqVIUo
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) June 23, 2021
In Playoffs, Steve Nash forgot the one thing that kept injured Nets afloat all season long
Sometimes the answer is right under your nose. When Steve Nash had the opportunity to go into his bag and try to find a spark in Games 6 and 7 with Kevin Durant and a hobbled James Harden shouldering the scoring load and massive amounts of minutes, the head coach decided to ride or die with his starting five.
Despite Joe Harris' shooting woes, Harden's lack of health and Blake Griffin expending a world of energy and fouls trying to hold down Giants Antentokounmpo, the bench was largely neglected in the final three games of the series.
Durant was nothing short of brilliant and Harden needs to be commended gutting out a Grade 2 hamstring strain, but how quickly Nash forgot that the team's Big three played in only nine regular season games together and it was the role players that helped Brooklyn climb to a 48-24 mark, good enough for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.
Bruce Brown, Jeff Green, Nicolas Claxton, Landrey Shamet, DeAndre Jordan, Mike James and others provided steady contributions to help mitigate the damage from losing Durant, Harden and Kyrie Irving for prolonged stretches during the regular season.
It's true that NBA playoff basketball is an entirely different animal, but a team's bench players traditionally elevate their level of play with a boost from the home crowd and could have made an impact in Game 7, especially with both Durant and Harden showing clear signs of fatigue and tired legs late in the game.
The 2020-2021 campaign ended in bitter disappointment for the Nets and their fans, but the undermanned squad gave everything it could to try and push deep into the playoffs and survive until reinforcements in the form of Irving and potentially Spencer Dinwiddie arrived.
Unfortunately, the clock struck midnight on the Nets' seaosn in the second round, but perhaps if Nash exhibited a bit more trust in his bench to provide a jolt, but if nothing less some much needed rest for his star players, Brooklyn might still be alive in the playoff chase.
For health or for country, Durant, Harden commit to Team USA in Tokyo Olympics
Kevin Durant will be turning 33 in September and nearly two and a half years removed from an Achilles injury that many thought might diminish his athleticism and star power significantly. Durant sat out 2019 and returned this past season, despite missing time due to contact tracing and hamstring issues, the Nets star proved to be better than ever during the team's playoff run that was cut short due to injuries.
His main running mate, James Harden battled through a lingering hamstring issue that when reaggravated in Game 1 of the Milwaukee series, caused him to miss three games and it was later revealed that his injury was not merely tightness, but a Grade 2 strain.
So why instead of rehabbing with the training staff in the case of Harden, but also Durant with the mileage on his body following his first full season back from surgery, participating in the Tokyo Olympics?
The simple answer in the love for the game and the pride in representing their country on the world stage. In reality, Nets fans will have a great deal of agita watching their two-star players lay it on the line this summer. Meanwhile, Kyrie Irving is not expected to play for Team USA coming off a serious ankle sprain.
The Nets championship dreams fell short of expectations, and the health of the big three will be a major contributing factor into whether the team can fulfill its goals next season.
Harden reveals what everyone already knew, he was a lot more hurt than Nets let on
James Harden was essentially playing on one leg in Games 5,6, and 7, but he gave it his al nonetheless.
Following the Game 7 loss, Harden told reporters that he had a Grade 2 hamstring strain with a normal recovery time of 4-6 weeks. Harden took barely a fraction of that time to heal the injury before charging back to provide a lift in Game 5 despite not scoring a single point.
With each subsequent game, Harden looked to be moving more freely and scored 16 points in Game 6 and 22 in Game 7. Even so, Brooklyn's hobbled star faced an uphill battle to get anywhere back to full strength even if the Nets advanced past the Bucks. Kyrie Irving was seen limping along the sidelines during Game 7 and the prospect of him playing in the next round was doubtful at best.
A second round exit was a bitter pill to swallow for all Nets'fans, but the reality is, health was not on their side and the Nets big 1.5 faced an uphill climb to advance deeper into the playoffs with their star players suffering from significant injuries.
Basketball Gods not on Nets' side as injuries derail Brooklyn's title hopes
The Nets faced their fair share of adversity this season, but injuries and a championship worthy Buck team proved to be too much to overcome in the end.
It's easy to question Steve Nash's strange rotations or how he leaned too heavily on Kevin Durant's 1-on-1 prowess on the offensive side, but injuries didn't allow the Nets to advance beyond the semifinal round.
Brooklyn had its big three together for merely nine regular season games and five playoff games with a combination of hamstring injuries, ankle ailments and contact tracing keeping the team's top stars from staying on the court.
Winning an NBA championship you nehealt mainingredients: talen and luck. Brooklyn was undoubtedly the most talented team in the league throughout the year, but luck was not on its side.
The Nets are forced to regroup, surround Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving with complimentary pieces and have another go at it with the hopes of staying healthy and whole throughout next year's campaign.
Questionable coaching, lack of bench support doom Nets in painful Game 7 loss
Steve Nash is a rookie coach and he looked every bit the part in the Brooklyn's gut wrenching 115-111 overtime defeat to Milwaukee in Game 7.
The Nets snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with an otherworldly jumper from Durant to send the game to the extra session. The Nets star's foot just touched the line on the attempt and came within millimeters of becoming the go ahead basket with one second left.
Alas, it wasn't meant to be as Steve Nash tightened his rotations unfathomably to dole out just 20 minutes to his bench of Jeff Green and Landry Shamet who scored no points. Durant scored 48 in 53 minutes, while James Harden had 22 in the same amount of runtime.
Nash wanted to ride or die with his big guns, but both were gassed and had nothing left in the tank in overtime. Joe Harris struggled again from the outside missing two wide open 3-pointers down the stretch and managed just ten points. The Nets turn their attention to next year as they consider extensions for the big three, hope Nash continues to grow as a neophyte coach, and rebuild a bench that came up short in the series.
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