The Nets began their All-Star break last night after facing the Philadelphia 76ers at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. The two teams are a far cry from being at the top of the NBA standings. The Cavaliers hold the best record in the Eastern Conference and second best overall in the league, only behind the Oklahoma City Thunder which was 43-9 before playing the Miami Heat at home.
The Nets? They were 19-34 and 12th in the 15-team Eastern Conference before AmNews press time. After somewhat surprisingly not making any trades last week before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline but agreeing to a contract buyout with guard-forward Ben Simmons, the Nets’ priority is now developing their young players and determining if any are cornerstones of their future roster.
When they acquired Simmons in February 2022 from the Philadelphia 76ers in the James Harden deal, they viewed Simmons as a crucial piece to a potential championship contender. Instead, he was a disappointment, playing in just 90 games for Brooklyn due to various injuries.
The Nets have already exceeded this season’s win total projection of 18.5 games established by various sports gaming companies, moving over it with a 97-89 win over the Charlotte Hornets at the Barclays on Monday night.
“I told them 19, so don’t tell them that I lied to them because I don’t do 18 and a half. I rounded up to 19,” Nets first-year head coach Jordi Fernadez joked during his post-game press conference.
“You got to find ways to be competitive … we’re at 19 right now. But the point is just to keep going and keep playing the right way. When the odds are against you, try to be a competitor and respond. I think the guys have done a great job. We have (28) games left so we got to keep getting better, got to keep building what we want to build here and credit to these guys because they show up every day with a positive attitude and they work.”
Fernandez added that despite his team being three games out of the tenth and final play-in berth, it is not impacting their approach.
“What we care about here is about the next game and if we’re accomplishing certain things about our development,” he said. “I want the guys to be competitive. We are all competitive here and finding ways to be competitive is important.”
Although the Nets do not have a player on the All-Star rosters, forward Cam Johnson will participate in the three-point shooting contest against seven others, including Knicks guard Jalen Brunson and two-time defending contest winner Damian Lillard, star guard for the Milwaukee Bucks.