The Brooklyn Nets are coming off a disappointing 2023-24 season in which they did not meet their goals of at least making it to the NBA’s play-in tournament. Not only did Brooklyn finish with a 32-50 record despite beginning the season with a 13-10 burst, but they also went through yet another coaching change in an attempt to change things up.
According to most betting markets, the Nets came into this past season with an over/under of 37.5 wins, meaning that most did not expect Brooklyn to have a winning record and possibly not make the postseason anyway. However, after beating the Phoenix Suns 116-112 on Dec. 13, the Nets were on pace to win somewhere between 45-46 games given how well they were playing at the time.
From that point on, Brooklyn went 8-23 heading into the All-Star break, including a 136-86 loss at the Boston Celtics on Feb. 14. It was clear through the first half of the season that something had to change for the team and that led to then-head coach Jacque Vaughn being relived of his duties on Feb. 19, less than one year after he reportedly signed a contract extension that was expected to keep him with the franchise through the 2026-27 season.
After the firing of Vaughn, there were some reports coming out that some within the organization “had concerns” about Brooklyn’s ability to acquire a star-level player with him as the head coach. In addition to that, some players took issue with Vaughn’s offense given that it was predicated on Ben Simmons being available as the point guard of the offense.
Unfortunately for the Nets, Simmons only played 15 games due to various injuries, especially a nerve impingement in his back that forced him to miss 39 of Brooklyn’s first 45 games. When Simmons played, he was solid with averages 6.1 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game while shooting 58.1% from the field.
The crux of the matter is that Simmons was unavailable for too many games and with him not able to be the point guard, that forced guys like Spencer Dinwiddie (who was traded at the deadline), Mikal Bridges, Cam Thomas, and Dennis Schroder (acquired in the Dinwiddie trade) to be the ball-handlers to varying degrees of success.
Bridges, a player who many believed could play his way into his first All-Star appearance after averaging 26.1 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game while shooting 47.5% from the field and 37.6% from three-point land, regressed to averages of 19.6 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.6 assists on 43.6% shooting from the floor and 37.2% from deep.
At the same time, Brooklyn saw the ascension of Cam Thomas as he improved from averages of 10.6 points, 1.7 rebounds, and 1.4 assists per game while shooting 44.1% from the field and 38.3% from three-point range to 22.5 points, 3.2 rebounds, and 2.9 assists per contest while shooting 44.2% from the floor and 36.4% from beyond the arc.
Ultimately, the Nets’ main goal was to make it back to the postseason despite the end of the Big 3 era. Not only did they not meet that goal, but they fell well short of it.
Grade: D
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