Brooklyn coach Jacque Vaughn has conceded getting Ben Simmons to work on this current roster, without stars Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving to draw attention away from him, will be difficult.
It was hoped Simmons would better complement the superstar pair when he was traded over from Philadelphia in a swap for James Harden last year.
It never quite worked out as Brooklyn hoped and now with Durant in Phoenix and Irving in Dallas, the Nets are back where they were before this second superstar era – trying to generate a positive atmosphere with young talent and hoping to strike gold in the draft.
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But after Tuesday’s loss to their cross-town rivals the Knicks, Nets coach Vaughn admitted: “It’s going to be some work that we have to do.
“Because you just take a look at what the lineups could potentially look like. You put another big next to Ben, then you got to figure out what the spacing is around him.
“Then if you put another playmaker next to him, then you got to figure out what Ben looks like without the basketball. Then if you go small with Ben, then you have to figure out can you rebound enough with him?
“So, the challenges are ahead of us. We’ll look them head on. We’ll figure it out. We have the personnel to figure it out.
“Whether it is me mixing and matching throughout different pieces of the game, and allowing him to have a group and run with a group, that part we’ll figure out, but you see the challenges that lie ahead.”
Simmons scored two points from two attempts against New York, with three rebounds and two assists.
The Nets were particularly trying to find scoring with the Knicks’ Jalen Brunson putting up 40 points and trade addition Josh Hart adding a season-best 27.
“With Brunson being out there, trying to throw different bodies with him,” Vaughn said. “We’re always concerned about (rebounding), so didn’t want Ben to be the lone big out there. We tried him with another big; I didn’t like that rhythm of the game because we weren’t scoring enough at that time.
“A lot of different problems thrown at you in the course of a game; you try to figure them out.”
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With the trade deadline gone the Nets are likely to remain on the fringes of the East playoff hunt but it seems exceedingly unlikely they will challenge any of the conferences’ top sides – Boston, Milwaukee, Philadelphia or Cleveland – in the first round of the playoffs.
That leaves plenty of time for Vaughn to try and figure out how, and if, Simmons can work for his team.
Asked about what he needs to see from Simmons to give him more minutes, Vaughn said: “I think overall, and tonight, just what we want from each guy is to give everything, every ounce that they have, every single game.
“All 16 guys are in that bucket. Trying to figure out what lineup fits around Ben, what position fits for Ben, how we can make him look good at every opportunity. That’s the goal.
“I’m still trying to figure that out. That’s on me to figure that out. But I think overall as a team, we’re going to try different lineups to try to figure this out.”
