Tag: Brooklyn Nets

Marc Stein: Hawks’ John Collins allowed to seek trade; could be joining Nets

Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins allowed to seek trade; could be calling Brooklyn home

Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins’ representatives have been allowed by the Hawks’ front office to seek a trade on their own, according to a report by Marc Stein on Saturday. This move makes it easier for Collins to find his way to the Brooklyn Nets since he’s allowed to seek a trade by his own requirements, not Atlanta’s.

Ultimately, the Hawks have to want to do the trade for it to get done, but Collins and his representatives wouldn’t necessarily have to keep Atlanta in mind. It has been reported throughout this season that Atlanta has been looking to trade Collins as they look to go into a different direction with building their team around Trae Young and Dejounte Murray.

Brooklyn has expressed interest in Collins throughout this season as they have been constantly looking for help in the frontcourt. Even though center Nic Claxton has been having a great season as a possible DPOY candidate, he is the only true big on the team and that could hurt the Nets come playoff time. Marc Stein reports how this recent news about Collins came to pass:

“In recent weeks, league sources say, Atlanta has blessed John Collins’ representatives to do their own searching for a deal construction that enables Collins to move on to a long-anticipated new address after constant trade speculation involving the sixth-year forward stretching across multiple transaction cycles. That widely expected deal obviously hasn’t materialized yet, while Atlanta’s front office is only just emerging from the throes of the sort of in-season overhaul you rarely see thanks to the sudden transfer of power from Travis Schlenk to Landry Fields and Nick Ressler (son of Hawks owner Tony Ressler). As has been reported for weeks now, varying degrees of interest in Collins have been registered by Washington, Utah, Brooklyn and Indiana.”

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TNT’s Inside the NBA discusses Nets’ Ben Simmons’ lack of shot attempts

TNT’s Inside the NBA gave their thoughts on Ben Simmons not shooting enough.

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons had quite the performance (in more ways than one) in Thursday’s 109-98 loss to the Boston Celtics. He did have nine rebounds, 13 assists, two steals, and one block, but he also had zero points on three shots.

It was clear that Simmons was able to do whatever he wanted to do as long as it didn’t involve scoring the ball. However, this has been a constant theme with Simmons when it comes to him either not shooting, not scoring enough points, or both. With the game being nationally televised on TNT, Simmons was on a stage where more people can see what he’s doing other than those living in the NYC area.

With the way that the Nets’ offense faltered in the fourth quarter, it was even more glaring that Simmons wasn’t shooting the ball. This is what Charles Barkley had to say about Simmons’ lack of shooting/scoring:

“Reggie (Miller) said it during the game. His (Simmons) numbers should go up without Kevin Durant. He’s the second-best player on the team. He can’t not score. That’s hard to do Ernie (Johnson).”

Here’s what Shaquille O’Neal had to say about Simmons’ performance in the loss:

“When you’re touted as a great player, you have to do it all. Yes, he had the assists and the rebounds, but, you have the ability to score, we need you to be aggressive. He’s not even looking at the basket.”

Simmons’ next chance to show what he can do with his scoring will be on Sunday as his Nets host the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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Brooklyn Nets given a grade of B+ for their first 40 games this season

The Brooklyn Nets get a B+ from NBA.com for their first half of the season.

The Brooklyn Nets (27-13) were given a grade of B+ for how they have performed during the first half of this season, according to an article published by NBA.com on Monday. At the writing of the piece, the Nets were 27-13 and had just beaten the Miami Heat the day before.

Over the course of the season after Steve Nash was fired, Brooklyn had a 25-8 and was one of two teams (the Boston Celtics being the other) to be in the top 10 in offensive rating and defensive rating. Leading up to the win over Miami, the Nets had impressive wins over the New Orleans Pelicans, the Cleveland Cavaliers, and the Milwaukee Bucks.

However, it should be noted that after during the win over the Heat, superstar Kevin Durant suffered an injury to his right MCL and is expected to miss at least one month with the injury. Here’s what NBA.com’s Steve Aschburner had to say about the Nets getting their grade:

“All it took for the Nets to fulfill a lot of the expectations and projections for them was to focus on, y’know, the actual basketball stuff. By the time Brooklyn got past Kevin Durant’s offseason fussing for a trade, Kyrie Irving’s off-court actions, the uncertainty of Ben Simmons and the termination of Steve Nash as coach, this crew was 7-9. Sticking almost exclusively between the lines since then, the Nets went 20-4, including an 18-2 stretch that was the best in franchise history.

The challenge now is to ride out Durant’s knee injury, suffered Sunday at Miami. Durant at 34 had turned back the clock for a renewed prime — 29.7 ppg, 55.9% FG — and had helped the Nets to an 85-44 record in games he played since arriving in 2020. But they were 34-31 without him, pending this upcoming stretch for however long he’s out.

Can Irving carry the primary load? Will assistance from Simmons, Nic Claxton, Royce O’Neale and the rest be as effective in Durant’s absence as they’ve been? That’s the challenge for them and coach Jacque Vaughn.”

The Brooklyn Nets next game is Sunday as they host the Oklahoma City Thunder.

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2023 NBA Mock Draft 2.0: Wembanyama, Henderson on top; Freshmen rising in latest projections

Rookie Wire took a look at where the next draft class stands at the midway point of the season.

The 2022-23 basketball season is in full swing as the next wave of prospects across the college level and the professional ranks look ahead to the 2023 NBA draft on June 22.

Of course, Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson remain at the top of draft boards at the start of the new year. Both could shut down their seasons right now and still be viewed as the best two players in the class. In other words: They are locked in at Nos. 1 and 2.

Elsewhere, though, fortunes change seemingly nightly.

Several prospects have improved upon their preseason rankings, while others have struggled and had their stock fall. The latest look at the class even has several freshmen on the rise after some impressive performances through the first half of the year.

Rookie Wire took a look at where the first round stands at the midway point of the season. It is important to note that team needs were not necessarily taken into account with each pick. The projections are rather a look at where each individual player stands at this point of the process.

Note: The order of the draft was pulled from Tankathon as of Jan. 10. The draft will have only 58 picks this year because the Bulls and Sixers were stripped of their second-round picks by the NBA due to tampering violations.

Nets’ Kevin Durant has a 3% chance of winning the Kia MVP award

Kevin Durant received 3% of the votes for NBA.com’s MVP award at this point of the season.

Nets superstar Kevin Durant received 3% of the votes to win the Kia MVP award, according to an article published by NBA.com on Monday. The votes on this list were from the 30 beat reporters working for NBA.com that represent every NBA market.

For context, when this article was published (Jan. 10), it was the day after Durant suffered a right MCL sprain against the Miami Heat. Also, the question posed was “Who is on track to win the Kia MVP award this season?”. The Kia MVP award is NBA.com’s version of the MVP award since the website is sponsored by the car company.

Out of 30 votes, Durant received 3% of the votes. The four players who received more votes than Durant were: Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (43%), Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (40%), Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (7%), and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (7%). Durant, who is averaging 29.7 points, 6.7 rebounds, and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 55.9% from the field and 37.6% from three-point land.

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Nets’ Jacque Vaughn discusses making ‘concerted effort’ to limit Jayson Tatum

Jacque Vaughn felt that the defensive gameplan was executed well aside from being beaten by the supporting cast.

The Brooklyn Nets have a tough task ahead of them for at least the next month as they will have to try to win games without their best player, superstar Kevin Durant. Thursday was the first look at this Nets team without Durant and the outcome was disappointing.

Coming into Thursday’s 109-98 loss to the Boston Celtics, Brooklyn was down just Durant. More to that, the Celtics second-best player, Jaylen Brown, was ruled out due to right adductor tightness so that was less that the Nets had to worry about on defense. However, by the end of the game, even though Jayson Tatum 20 points on just 7-of-22 shooting from the field, Brooklyn allowed five other Celtics to score at least 11 points.

The Nets were able to hang around for the first three quarters thanks to the offense being effective and the defensive gameplan of keeping Tatum in check working to perfection. In the fourth quarter, it was a different story as the Celtics started the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run and didn’t look back. Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn spoke postgame about the defensive effort made to limit Tatum giving Brooklyn a chance to steal this game at home:

“Yeah, concerted effort. You know, it’s like football. You can’t take away the pass game, the run game and special teams. So, we decided to really give Tatum different bodies, different look, make it difficult for him, especially with brown (Jaylen) not playing. You give credit to those dudes for making shots. Their bigs, putbacks being at the rim, and then you give credit where we shouldn’t allow credit to be given. Where (Payton) Pritchard, (Sam) Hauser, (Luke) Kornet get offensive rebounds. Those are the things you can take care of. So, that has nothing to do with Tatum, that has nothing to do with the game plan. That is a want and keeping dudes off the glass.”

The Brooklyn Nets had their five-game winning streak at home snapped by the Celtics and are now 0-1 since Durant’s MCL injury.

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Nets’ Ben Simmons says playing well is ‘something I need to do’ after loss to Celtics

Ben Simmons says playing well is “something I need to do”

Brooklyn Nets guard Ben Simmons has been a consistent topic of discussion over the past few years. One thing that can’t be debated is that whatever team he’s on, he has to produce if that team has any hopes of winning a championship. That was true when Simmons was with the Philadelphia 76ers and it’s true now as Simmons is a member of the Nets.

Ever since Simmons was traded to Brooklyn for James Harden, the two players will forever be linked by the theme of being disgruntled players who wanted out. Simmons got his wish and now, he has to step up for the Nets since Kevin Durant is out for at least the next month with his right MCL sprain.

In Friday’s 109-98 loss to the Boston Celtics, Simmons dazzled with dishing out 13 assists, but he also attempted only three shots for zero points. As has been the case with Simmons the past few seasons, he can do anything else on the basketball court except score, or even attempt to score rather. Simmons spoke postgame about what he has to do for the team in Durant’s absence:

“I wouldn’t call it pressure. I just think it’s something I need to do to help this team. But, also looking at it, 13 assists, I think towards the fourth, they had way too many second shots, second chances (points), too many rebounds. Five fouls, too many fouls. So, there’s a lot of things within this game that we just played that we can cut down. This was a template game.”

Simmons’ 13 assists are the most by a Net this season, but the zero points in a winnable game is troubling.

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Nets’ Kyrie Irving says loss to Celtics was because Boston ‘picked up their pressure’

Kyrie Irving said Boston’s increased pressure in the second half was the main reason for the double-digit loss.

Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving has a tough job ahead of him for at least the next month. With Kevin Durant out for one month because of a sprained MCL in his right knee, Irving has to find a way to keep the team afloat while trying to make up for the 30 points per game that leaves with Durant for the time being.

Irving’s first chance to see how he would handle the task did not go as intended. In Thursday’s 109-98 loss to the Boston Celtics, Irving scored 24 points, but it came on 9-of-24 shooting from the field and 3-of-11 shooting from behind the three-point line. Irving started the game well as he was able to string successful offensive possessions together, but in the second half, Boston’s defense was too much for Irving and the Nets to overcome.

After scoring 57 points in the first half, Brooklyn scored just 41 points in the second half as Boston limited them to 39% shooting from the field. Irving discussed how the Celtics’ defense became more stout in the second half of the disappointing loss:

“They picked up their pressure, they started off that fourth quarter with  a flurry of baskets and we called timeout. So, they (the Celtics) won the race to get the fourth quarter started off aggressive. Few times calls could have gone either way. And, the results ended up where they are and feel like we definitely could have taken some better shots, and in the fourth quarter got some defensive stops, but didn’t happen for us tonight. And when you give up any opportunities for them to capitalize and they’re a great team, they’re gonna do so.”

Irving had six assists in the contest, but had a +/- of -11 during his time on the floor.

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NBA Twitter reacts to Nets’ 109-98 loss to the Boston Celtics

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacted to the Nets’ lackluster performance in losing to the Celtics.

The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Boston Celtics on Thursday for the second matchup between the two teams this season and lost 109-98. Boston now lead the regular-season series 2-0.

For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 24 points and six assists while TJ Warren had 20 points off the bench. Joe Harris had 18 points and Royce O’Neale had 11 points.

For the Celtics, Jayson Tatum had 20 points and 11 rebounds while Marcus Smart had 16 points and 10 assists. Malcolm Brogdon had 16 points off the bench and Derrick White had 15 points.

This game was competitive through the first three quarters. With the absences of Kevin Durant and Jaylen Brown, neither team had as much firepower as typically expected. Brooklyn did a good job of defending Tatum and Irving did not have his most efficient shooting game.

This game turned into a blowout in the fourth quarter as Boston had its offense rolling despite Tatum’s tough shooting night and Brooklyn was unable to keep up without Durant on the court. The Celtics out-rebounded the Nets 48-31 in this game and that lead to a lot of second possessions for Boston that eventually got the best Brooklyn.

Here’s how NBA Twitter reacts to the Nets’ disappointing loss:

Luke Kornet throws down surprising reverse oop in Celtics win over Nets

Luke Kornet threw down a reverse alley-oop jam during Boston’s win in Brooklyn, and even he seemed surprised by the highlight play.

The Boston Celtics grabbed a fifth straight win with a victory on the road against the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night, but it was a reverse alley-oop slam from big man Luke Kornet that stole the show. Credit Marcus Smart with the assist on the play. (Smart ended the game with 10 dimes.)

Boston was without Al Horford against the Nets, and the team continues to be cautious with Robert Williams. Quality play from Kornet is critical for head coach Joe Mazzulla. Kornet, who clocks in as the tallest American-born NBA player in the league this season, has been best known for his unique defense so far. He’s had a few plays at the rim, but the Kentucky native is more of a shooter than a paint pounder.

All the same, Kornet provided a surprising highlight above the rim Thursday night. Seriously — even Kornet seemingly couldn’t believe the play.

Listen to the “Celtics Lab” podcast on:

Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/3zBKQY6

Spotify: https://spoti.fi/3GfUPFi

YouTube: https://bit.ly/3F9DvjQ

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