{"id":113986,"date":"2024-12-26T23:38:06","date_gmt":"2024-12-27T04:38:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=113986"},"modified":"2024-12-26T23:38:06","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T04:38:06","slug":"brooklyn-nets-nba-biggest-overachievers-reinforcements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/12\/26\/brooklyn-nets-nba-biggest-overachievers-reinforcements\/","title":{"rendered":"Brooklyn Nets Overachievers No More, Reinforcements Are Coming"},"content":{"rendered":"

A little more than a month into the 2024-25 season, the Brooklyn Nets<\/a> were arguably the NBA’s<\/a> biggest overachievers. That is not the case anymore, but there is good news for the Nets, as reinforcements are reportedly on the way.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn Nets Overachievers No More, Reinforcements Are Coming<\/h2>\n

On November 27, Brooklyn<\/a> had the 17th-best record in the NBA at 9-10 with a -1.2 scoring margin after sweeping a three-game Pacific Division road trip\u2014defeating Sacramento<\/a>, Golden State<\/a>, and Phoenix<\/a>. Over these 19 games, the Nets had two victories over Memphis, defeated Milwaukee, and played Boston,<\/a> Cleveland<\/a>, and New York<\/a> extremely tough.<\/p>\n

How things have changed. Brooklyn (12-18) has lost eight of their last 11 with a minus-9.7 scoring margin. The Nets snapped a two-game losing streak with a 111-105 victory over the shorthanded Milwaukee Bucks tonight. Cam Johnson<\/a> poured in 29 points to lead three Nets with 20 or more points.<\/p>\n

After averaging 112.1 points through the first 19 games, the Nets are averaging 103.1 points a contest. They have been held to less than 102 points eight times and under the century mark on four occasions during this stretch.<\/p>\n

Injuries have been a major issue for Brooklyn. Eighteen Nets players have already appeared in a game this season, including 17 in the last 10 contests.<\/p>\n

Also, 13 players have averaged 15 or more minutes a game during this 10-game stretch. Of course, this does not include Bojan Bogdanovic<\/a>, who has yet to make his season debut, or De’Anthony Melton<\/a>, who is out for the season.<\/p>\n

Moreover, his first unit had 13 different players. As a result, Jordi Fernandez<\/a> has run out of 15 starting lineups, with the most used being nine times.<\/p>\n

However, Brooklyn could regain several injured players before the New Year.<\/p>\n

Dorian Finney-Smith Sits Out Against Bucks, Ben Simmons Plays<\/h3>\n

Heading into tonight’s contest, Brooklyn listed seven players on its injury report. After being listed as questionable, the Nets decided to sit Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a> about 35 minutes before tipoff due to a left foot contusion, according to New York’s Brian Lewis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

“Sometimes you\u2019ve gotta save him from himself, Fernandez told Lewis as the reason<\/a> that the Nets decided to rule Finney-Smith out. It’s good to have him on the court, and we don’t want him to miss games, so we’ll do whatever it takes to take care of his body.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finney-Smith’s absence is his third straight and 11th of the season. Finney-Smith, who is reportedly drawing trade interest from Memphis<\/a>, is arguably having the most productive season of his career. The 31-year-old forward averages 10.8 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 47.4% from the field in 29.1 minutes a game. He is also a career-best 2.5 threes and shooting a personal-best 45.2% from deep.<\/p>\n

In addition to Memphis, Finney-Smith has recently been linked to Golden State,<\/a> the\u00a0Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, the Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a>, and the Sacramento Kings<\/a>. While Finney-Smith likely won’t miss many more games, he likely won’t suit up for tomorrow’s clash against San Antonio. At the very least, Finney-Smith carries a questionable to doubtful designation.<\/p>\n

Ben Simmons<\/h4>\n

Simmons (lower back management) was also listed as questionable for the game against the Bucks but was ultimately in the Nets’ starting lineup. This marks the much-maligned 28-year-old Australian’s eighth straight appearance, including his fifth start in a row.<\/p>\n

Simmons has struggled on and off the court since coming to Brooklyn three seasons ago. While injuries have kept Simmons off the floor more than he has played, his production can be described at best as below-average. However, in comparison to how much he is making, the value the Nets have gotten is nil.<\/p>\n

Simmons has played better over the last five games. In 29 minutes against the Bucks, he totaled eight points, nine assists, and four rebounds. During this stretch, he has scored in double figures three times while dishing out at least seven assists in all five contests.<\/p>\n

However, unless an NBA team trades for Simmons, it sounds like he will be a Net until he becomes an unrestricted free agent. As Clutch Points Bret Siegel<\/a> recently reported, the Nets have no intention of buying the 6-8 forward out.<\/p>\n

“As the trade deadline inches closer, the Nets and Simmons hold ‘zero interest’ in pursuing a buyout agreement, multiple league sources told ClutchPoints. This same mindset Brooklyn currently holds also applies to the scenario of Simmons remaining on their roster past February 6, which continues to look like a strong possibility.”<\/p>\n

Cam Thomas and Ziaire Williams’ Return Is Upcoming<\/h3>\n

Cam Thomas<\/a> (hamstring) has missed the past dozen games. His status for tomorrow’s clash against the Spurs is unknown, though Lewis said his return is close. When he suffered the injury in November, he was initially expected to miss three to four weeks.<\/p>\n

The same can be said about Williams, who has missed the last nine contests due to a left knee sprain.<\/p>\n

\u201cCam\u2019s doing great,\u201d Jordi Fernandez told Lewis on Christmas Day<\/a>. \u201cAs well as Ziaire [Williams]. They played five-on-five and did a great job. So we\u2019ll see how they feel after. That\u2019s part of the process that they\u2019re in right now. It seems like they\u2019re getting close.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas is an elite scorer and was off to a fantastic start before the injury. Thomas leads the Nets in scoring at 24.7 points while doling out 3.4 assists. The 23-year-old makes 2.9 threes with shooting splits of 46.1\/38.9\/86.6. He has scored in double-figures in all 17 appearances, scoring at least 20 points four times, 30 points (five) and 40 (once).<\/p>\n

Thomas figures to start when he is ultimately clear. Fernandez must decide whether to pair Thomas with Simmons or Keon Johnson<\/a>. Johnson has struggled in his nine starts, so Simmons seems the likely choice to remain with the first unit.<\/p>\n

Ziaire Williams<\/h4>\n

After struggling the past two seasons, Williams appears to be a useful reserve once again. The 23-year-old forward averages 8.6 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.0 steals in 22 minutes a contest.<\/p>\n

Like Finney-Smith, expect Thomas and Williams to be at least questionable for tomorrow’s game. It would be surprising if any of the three were available, though Thomas may have the best shot.<\/p>\n

That leaves Trendon Watford<\/a> and Bogdanovic. Watford has not played since December 16 due to a left hamstring strain. He is expected to be re-evaluated sometime soon. ESPN<\/a> lists Watford and Bogdanovic’s return date as Sunday, but that is yet to be determined. However, Watford seems more likely to be ready by then than Bogdanovic, who doesn’t have a timetable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A little more than a month into the 2024-25 season, the Brooklyn Nets were arguably the NBA’s biggest overachievers. That is not the case anymore, but there is good news for the Nets, as reinforcements are reportedly on the way. Brooklyn Nets Overachievers No More, Reinforcements Are Coming On November 27, Brooklyn had the 17th-best […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3146,"featured_media":114153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,6,2,62],"tags":[237,4069,1899,2272,49161],"class_list":["post-113986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nets","category-featured","category-nba","tag-bojan-bogdanovic","tag-cam-thomas","tag-cameron-johnson","tag-dorian-finney-smith","tag-jordi-fernandez"],"modified_by":"Daniel Benjamin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3146"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114157,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113986\/revisions\/114157"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/114153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}