Here is the crux of the issue for the Nets, summed up in the answer to a question in NBA.com’s anonymous survey of all 30 general managers: Which team’s level of success is toughest to predict?
Brooklyn led the pack at 32 percent, nearly doubling any other team.
What are the Nets going to be? Nobody has any idea. And after cratering from title favorites to first-round losers in 2022, the range of outcomes is all over the place.
“New look? I don’t know,” Kevin Durant said, regarding the offense, following Monday night’s preseason opener. “I think we know how we play, each and every one of us. It’s just about finding rhythm out there, getting our legs. It’s good to see Ben [Simmons] back, it’s good to see [Edmond Sumner] back, Joe [Harris] back after having some tough surgeries. So, yeah, once we get our legs up under us, everybody finds out exactly what they want to do out there, I think we’ll be in good shape.
“But for the most part, it may take a couple of days, a couple of preseason games, a couple of weeks, who knows?”
Exactly what this will look like with a healthy Durant, Simmons and Kyrie Irving all playing is only one part of the equation. Prior to James Harden being traded for Simmons, the Nets barely got to see all three of their superstars on the floor at the same time — the three played just 16 games together including the playoffs over 1 ½ seasons. Brooklyn went 13-3 in those games, but you don’t get titles for that.
Simmons, who had not played a competitive basketball game since the Sixers were eliminated from the 2021 postseason, comes with his own set of questions regarding his compete level (he was widely criticized for sitting out the series against Boston) and readiness to return after sitting out for more than a year, as well as his shooting ability, which has dogged him since he broke into the league.
There is also the not-so-small matter of Durant having requested a trade over the summer and later asking that coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks be let go as a condition of him staying before backing down.
The talent is very much in place. The whole thing could also implode.
“It was fun messing up,” Simmons said following Monday’s 127-108 loss to the Sixers in the team’s preseason opener, “because I know how good we can be.”
Simmons, in his Brooklyn debut, played 19 minutes and shot 3 of 6 from the field with five assists. Harris, returning from ankle surgery, shot 2 of 7, all of which were 3-pointers.
For a team that, technically, is returning every player in its starting lineup, the Nets have a lot of questions to answer about how the offense will look — though ‘technically’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting there. Durant, on Monday, was asked when he’ll know that things are clicking.
“When we win games in the regular season,” he said. “I mean, it’s kind of hard to say. I think to be honest, it’s hard to say when exactly it clicked. But I think you know you get used to your teammates every day. You talk, have conversations about where you see each other and how you can help each other and go from there.
“So the dialogue is always on with Ky, Ben, myself, Royce [O’Neal], the rest of the guys. So I think it just happens.
“That’s a tough question. I don’t know.”
Ultimately, the answer could define the season.