Two’s company, three never seems to work out
Was it all of the stress of trying to focus on professional basketball while dealing with all of the restrictions and concerns that accompanied COVID-19? The world seemed to change, as did the NBA. Whatever was or was not the cause, the Nets appeared to bite off more than they could chew. Two many stars, not enough role players.
in the end, the best laid plans often fail. The experiment to add James Harden to the roster was . . . disappointing. In the end, the Nets resolved to trade Harden and get the best package available to them.
About the same time, the Philadelphia 76ers were eager to trade away disgruntled point forward Ben Simmons. Simmons was amazingly effective at handling the ball, distributing to the open shooter, and he could score points if he was near the basket. But he never took the time to work on mid-range shots, struggled at times at the foul line, and seemed to regress in the most critical moments of the game because opposing teams figured out that Simmons could not, or would not, shoot.
Throwing good assets after bad trades
If you recall, there was plenty of talk linking the Minnesota Timberwolves to trading for Simmons. In the end, no trade occurred. What did happen was a trade between the Brooklyn Nets and the Philadelphia 76ers. The Sixers acquired an unhappy James Harden. The Nets acquired an unhappy Ben Simmons. In fact, the total package was Ben Simmons and two Philadelphia 76ers first round picks:
The Nets will get the Sixers' 2022 first-round pick unprotected with a right to defer until 2023 and a 2027 first-round pick protected 1-to-8, sources tell ESPN. The 2027 pick would roll over to 2028 protected 1-to-8 again. The pick turns into two seconds and $2M in 2029.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 10, 2022
Still, the hope was that it would be okay, right? The Nets still had Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, recouped two first round picks, and were rolling the dice that Ben Simmons would be back on the basketball court once he was out of that toxic Philadelphia environment. Only to learn later that Simmons may never come back.