On paper, the Nets looked like the league’s number one contender for a few years. While all forms of drama certainly played a role in dismantling those hopes last season, there were also more holes in that paper than we realized.
Against the eventual Eastern Conference Champion Boston Celtics, many of those deficiencies were exposed. One in particular was Brooklyn’s shaky big man rotation.
The Nets had trouble finding the requisite size up front that would help protect the paint and grab some rebounds without sacrificing too much offensive spacing and flow. They tried out Andre Drummond, Blake Griffin and Nic Claxton to varying degrees of little success, punting on LaMarcus Aldridge as an option altogether.
Boston shot 68.5 percent from the restricted area in that series, compared to 62.5 percent the rest of the playoffs. The Nets failed to out-rebound one of the league’s worst rebounding teams in a single game, and the total tally came out 158-136, Celtics.
Coming into 2022-23, Brooklyn hasn’t done much to address their center rotation. They re-signed Claxton, their best option at the position, though a bit lankier than his competition. Day’Ron Sharpe is entering year two after a nice Summer League performance, but is unproven.
Then there’s Ben Simmons, who has yet to play in a Nets uniform but is sure to be a major answer to many of their questions. There’s no doubt we’ll be seeing some of him at center, a new challenge for Simmons, but one that could pay major dividends for the Nets.
Don’t expect more than a sprinkle of this look in the regular season and playoffs, perhaps a couple of six-minute stretches a game, similar to the Warriors' "death lineup." While Simmons creating havoc on the short roll and using his elite defense to anchor the entire floor is a fun and terrifying concept, it would allow for much of the same weaknesses given his size.