Now that Kevin Durant is staying on the Brooklyn Nets for the foreseeable future, the team can focus on building the roster around him, Kyrie Irving, and Ben Simmons. This star trio will be in charge of taking the Nets to the promised land once and for all after two tumultuous seasons and a very difficult offseason this year.
With these two ‘additions’, Steve Nash and his coaching staff will make some changes ahead of the upcoming season, and one of the biggest question marks they have involves the center position. They only have two of them on the roster, and even though they are interested in Tristan Thompson, that might not be the solution to all their problems.
According to Alex Schiffer of The Athletic, the Nets could use Ben Simmons at the five, just like they did with Kevin Durant last season. Schiffer adds, however, that this isn’t a final decision.
The positive is Durant’s decision to stay in Brooklyn makes the organization a prime destination this late in the game. Nic Claxton and Day’Ron Sharpe remain the only two centers on the roster. There have been rumblings of Simmons playing center this season and Durant has done so before in small-ball lineups. Do the Nets add another big man or role with the traditional and modern options they have? Is there a surprise trade of sorts? How Marks uses the momentum and roster flexibility will be worth watching in the coming weeks.
After spending a couple of tense months, the Nets appear to be ready to face a challenging season. They still need to make some moves to finish the assembling of a championship-caliber team, but it seems like they’re on the right track after securing Durant and Irving’s services for at least one more season.
Recently, Rick Pitino said that Ben Simmons could be their Draymond Green, and that comes in alignment with Schiffer’s report.
