Bill Simmons TORCHES The Brooklyn Nets’ Offseason | Fans MUST Hear This

Bill Simmons TORCHES The Brooklyn Nets’ Offseason | Fans MUST Hear This

[Music] [Music] What is going on Netflix fans? Hello everyone. Welcome back in to another edition of the Brooklyn Boy Show. Appreciate you all joining us right here on this Thursday, July 10th, 2025. Make sure you smash that like button and hit subscribe on your way into the building. It’s completely free and it really does help us grow significantly here on the show through all your questions, comments, thoughts in the chat. We’ll be reacting to those later, so make sure you vote those up in the chat. But today we’re joined by a very, very special guest. You all know him from Pets on SIM. The new host, the Believe in Nets podcast. The great Jed Cats graces us with his presence right here on the show. Jed, how you doing? Appreciate you spending time. I’m doing great. I appreciate you for having me on. I’m excited to talk Nets off season. No problem. I’m super happy you were able to be here. Obviously, you’ve done so many great things already in this industry. So, I’m happy that you’re able to join us here on the program and share some insight on uh on our on our end of the win%. I know you’re at the rookie press conference and we’re certainly going to, you know, dive into the rookie draft class and I think that’s where we’re going to where we’re going to start today. I want to get into an article that you can uh for Nets on SI. We kind of broke down the positives of this draft class. Obviously, a lot of fans now had time to look back on it. The draft was over two weeks ago. It’s been very doom and gloom among the fan base yet. A lot of people are leaning more towards the negative category. You also wrote an article on negatives of the draft, but I think, you know, I think this fan base needs some optimism despite all the pessimistic comments, Bill Simmons being one of them. We’ll get to that later. Um, what are some of the positives from this draft class that should get the fan base excited for this coming season? Well, first of all, I was shocked with uh the Nets picks. I I did an episode of the podcast uh my the Believe in Nets podcast um the day before the draft and uh a lot of the players that I projected to go to Brooklyn did not end up there. Um they, you know, they obviously took a lot of international talent. they they took a lot of pass first a lot of facilitators. So I think some of the positive well the first positive that I would say is that this this class has a lot of facilitation. There’s a lot of there’s a lot of passing. Um, you know, just looking at like Jor Demond, Nolan Treyor, Danny Wolf, Ben Sif, like these guys. Um, you know, obviously there’s a lot of concern about their shooting a lot. Uh, there’s concern about their scoring, but they can facilitate and they can really, you know, push the pace. And I think, you know, in this modern NBA, we’re seeing that pace and space basketball is becoming the meta. You know, like look at the Eastern Conference champion Indiana Pacers. They know how to push the pace. They didn’t necessarily have this this star scorer, but they had players who could really push the pace. They had guys that could shoot. And obviously three-point shooting is a bit of cons uh of a concern with this with this draft class. But I really like the facilitation here. I think Jieor Demond, he’s a great uh floor general to have, especially at 6’9. And then you got guys who can really, you know, run the floor. So that’s that’s probably the biggest positive that I would say. Absolutely. I mean, the biggest negative in my opinion and I is that an echo on your end, Jed, or mine? Because I know we spoke about that backstage and I just want to make sure cuz I switched mics. I heard I saw Luke come in the chat and say there was an echo. So, Connor got a crazy echo. Is Is that me, Jed, or is that you? I don’t hear an echo. It might be on my end, honestly. I might have to put my headphones on. Oh, it’s it’s fine. No, no problem. I mean, if it if it persists, maybe we can go that route, but I think it’s um Yeah, I still hear it. No, if you if you have headphones, maybe that would uh help fix Absolutely. Yes. All right. Of course you you were the one who were was ahead of the game, the Wisconsin student here, and and I was like, “No, it’s fine.” And turns out you were right. So, yes. Um, so as as as Jed gets the echo fix, I’ll kind of just throw throw in my thoughts on this draft class overall. I I like and I think that’s a lot better now. I like select players in this draft class. Drake Powell is probably my favorite overall value selection in this draft class. We were talking about Powell a little bit off air. I actually bought his jersey, so he’ll be the Nets jersey that I’m wearing this season. And um I think he’s a guy who could guard multiple positions for you, who could be a catch and shoot uh threat behind the arc. I we we were saying this backstage like I don’t think he’s going to be a superstar. I don’t think he’s going to be a guy who can be a a number one or maybe even a number two option on a championship team, but I think he’s going to be a very very good role player who could be a third or fourth option for you on a winning team who’s going to be in the league for a very very long time. So, um I’m very very high on Drake Powell. Jed, how do you think he fits on to this team? I mean, you have a lot of small forwards on this team. Zire Williams, you picked up who you resigned this off seasonason. You picked up Jaylen Wilson’s team option. Obviously, you have Powell, you have Terrence Man, who could potentially be an option to be the the the the number three for you this season. How does Drake Powell fit into the Nets rotation? Well, I think that Drake Powell, like you said, he’s not going to be this this superstar player. You know, you know, we like we like Powell, but we don’t view him as this star player as, you know, anything of like this offensive super crazy offensive threat. I would say he for me is most comparable at least for what he could be in the league is very comparable to like what Amen Thompson is for the Rockets. You know, a Swiss Army knife in terms of what you can do on the floor. He can guard one through five. He obviously has the frame and the athleticism to be a great defender in the league. And then also on the offensive side, maybe he’s not a guy who could put the ball on the floor and score off the dribble, but he’s a great catch and shoot uh he’s a great catch and shoot option. You know, we saw it at North Carolina. He wasn’t a prominent part of their offense when it came to putting the ball on the floor, but he was more of a of a catch and shoot player. He shot it from I think it was around like a 37 38% clip at North Carolina. He’s he’s very much a 3 and D guy who who any team would love to have. And coming into the draft, I was very high on him. I thought he could have gone as early as the top 20 and the Nets ended up grabbing him at 22, which I think is great value, especially coming from a trade, you know, the Porzingis trade where the Nets didn’t have to give up anything and instead they end up receiving another first round pick. So, I love Powell as this Swiss Army knife, as somebody who could come in and really guard one through five, be a point of attack defender. That’s what I see in Powell. Absolutely. And we’re going to see all five of these rookies most likely play prominent minutes in the summer league. And that kicks off tonight. the Net’s first summer league matchup of the year against the Oklahoma City Thunder. For the summer league games, we’re typically going to have postgame coverage live on the channel, but I do have a conflict tonight. So, the postgame recap on this channel will be live tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. EST. So, stay tuned for that. But all the summer league games, we should have immediate live postgame reactions. Jed, you’ve written a few articles for the Nets on SI site detailing some rookies to watch, non rookies to watch. What should fans be honing in on tonight as the Nets face off against OKC in uh Nevada? Well, I think aside from the five first round picks, I would say another rookie, Grant Nelson, you a 6’10 forward out of Alabama. He’s a guy who I thought should have been drafted. Um but instead, the Nets pick him up uh for the summer league roster. I love his game. He’s very athletic. He’s not the best shooter. He’s he’s not somebody who, you know, he he’s he’s not an incredible shooter. uh not an incredible offensive option, but he’s very athletic. He’s a great rebounder. We saw it the last two years at Alabama and then of course before that at North Dakota State, he was unbelievable. He was a do-it-all superstar at North Dakota State. So, I would watch out for him. And then in terms of the non rookies, you know, guys who have already been on this roster, Drew Timmy, a guy who dominated the G-League and then obviously came in and impressed towards the end of the season with the Nets. And then, um I would say Tossan Fulman. I I I I’m terrible at pronouncing his name. Awoma. Aw. Yeah. Okay. Um he’s another guy who again played very well in the G-League and came in and impressed. Um one of the one of the first games that I got to see him play was against Utah when he had that 22-point performance. Uh I think it was back in I want to say January. He he had a 22-point performance. Had some clutch free throws to ice the game. That kind of showed me that he’s ready for this challenge in the NBA. And I think in the summer league, him and Timmy are going to to get a lot of great opportunities on the floor. Yeah, absolutely. I mean, Tosani W, I’m not the biggest fan of Tosan. I don’t like that they handed him a two two-way contract right out of the gate. I’d prefer personally keeping a bunch of those two-way spots open. Like, giving a W and Tyson both two-way deals was a little puzzling to me. I mean the lingo among the the Nets podcasters last season. I was not a Nets podcaster last season but listening to a bunch of Nets podcast. Everyone was calling him Tucson from Walmart because no one had any idea where this guy came from. It’s like he just you know came up one game and he was in the playing 20 minutes a night for the Brooklyn Nets. That was just how inept this team was and how barren they were on talent last season. But you know is someone that gave a two-way deal. So he’s going to have to embrace that mentality and hope to make an impact in the summer league. Jed, let’s move over to uh some of the offseason editions for the Brooklyn Nets. Let’s start with Michael Porter Jr. You wrote an article about this again for Nets on SAI. Check out uh Jed’s great written work at nets onsi.com. For people who didn’t catch this article from you, kind of summarized the piece. Michael Porter Jr. obviously two years left on his on his current contract. He has two pretty steep cap hits the next two years. Is Michael Porter Jr. a long-term piece in Brooklyn? I don’t think so. And I don’t know if that’s a surprise. I don’t think that should be a surprise for Nets fans because the Nets are uh at least the moves that they have been making over the past year, they were extending their timeline, you know, stacking up on draft picks. At one point going into the offseason, they were projected to have almost, you know, $47 million in cap space. And um obviously this Porter Junior trade, you know, paying an extra $17 million a year. Um it obviously hurts that, but I think this was more of a deal to, you know, say, “Hey, let’s move off of Cam Johnson.” And and in the piece I mentioned that the Nets should have moved off of Cam Johnson a while ago. They could have moved off of Johnson as early as the beginning of last season and they waited and they were, you know, reports came out at the deadline that they were just merely fielding calls. Um, they weren’t actively shopping him. They were just saying, “Hey, what could we get for him?” And I think that was setting them up for the offseason, you know, because then they ended up not making that trade and going into the off season, they’re looking around the league and this Porter Jr. trade comes up and um they had been working on it for a while and I I I don’t know how to feel about it right now. I would say that on the surface right now it looks kind of like a win-win trade, but um I wouldn’t call Porter Jr. a long-term piece. I would say with him, you know, he’s 27 years old. He’s making $38 million next season and then $40 million the year after that. I can’t see the Nets giving him an extension. I could see him maybe playing next season in Brooklyn and then maybe at the deadline next year in his contract here, the Nets potentially moving off of him. Someone who has strong feelings on the Cam Johnson, Michael Porter Jr. trade is Bill Simmons. And we’ll get back, we’ll get to Bill Simmons comment right here on the Brooklyn Boys Show shortly right after a quick break. You are listening to the Brooklyn Boys Show with your host Connor Long. If you’re enjoying the show, drop us a sub and leave a like. It helps more Nets fans find us. Quick break, then back to talking Brooklyn Nets basketball. [Music] It is the Brooklyn boys show right here on YouTube. Jedcats Connor Long with you. Thank you for sticking with us after that quick break. Make sure you smash that like button and you do hit subscribe right here on the show. It’s completely free and it helps us grow significantly. Now, Jed, let’s indulge into the comments that Bill Simmons made on his podcast that were quite polarizing. We’ll start off to his overall thoughts on the Nets off season, which uh wasn’t all that. Continue to think they did an awful job. Like really bad. I didn’t like their draft. I don’t like really any of that. I don’t think they have like an awesome kick-ass asset. um their best asset is basically their own pick in 2026 which they traded to get back. But uh I just don’t understand anything they did. They had all that cap space. I said this on to Rob Mahoney on Wednesday. They were the guy in the fantasy draft that had $100 to spend with 10 and and everybody else ran out of money. They were in the driver’s seat in all these different ways. I just don’t think they exploited it correctly. I don’t like what they did. Jed, I like Bill Simmons, but I think this take is absolutely asinine. I I I I really do. I think the Nets had a great offseason. I think they kind of balanced, you know, getting players who will fit their timeline down the road road, guys with upside, who can playmake, who can help contribute to the future in Brooklyn. And he had some strong takes on the Michael Porter Jr. trade, which we’ll get into shortly. But first, give us your reaction to Bill Simmons absolutely lambast thing. John Marx, the whole Brooklyn Nets quote awful off season. Well, before I give my take, I want to say that I also love Bill Simmons. I I love listening to to his stuff, him and Rillo. I love um baby. Yeah. Love listening to them. But this take I I think is is very harsh. It’s a harsh take because agree with them. My my my job was Yeah, this is a harsh take and and I think the Nets going into the offseason, I I don’t know what expectation he had for the Nets this off season, they weren’t in any position to, you know, maybe it’s maybe he wanted them to go after Giannis at, you know, with all those rumors going on. But I don’t understand what could you do if you’re Brooklyn because you’re setting yourself up for, you know, a long-term rebuild. This is this is a rebuild that’s going to take time and I think on this very podcast like he just the Nets are going to take their time. Yeah, absolutely. The Nets are going to take their time with this and I think NBA fans and analysts such as Bill Simmons have grown impatient with rebuilds. I think, you know, there there’s this there’s this idea that teams need to rebuild within like a two to threeyear window. Whereas in reality, you know, if you’re a GM, like Shawn Marks is probably looking at this like, okay, if we’re going to do a long-term rebuild, this is going to be a 4 to 5ear window, perhaps even six-year window where, you know, we’ll stockpile draft picks. We’ll see slow improvement. We’ll try to develop our players, and then we’ll see what we can do in terms of making a big splash. But the Nets are setting themselves up for success with the amount of cap space that they have now and in the future. And especially which you know we like listen I wasn’t the biggest fan of Marks when you know right after they traded Durant and Kyrie there was obviously a lot of questions you know they were holding on to some of these guys like Bridges and Cam Johnson you know sitting in mediocrity for a while but I think he did right by Nets fans by finally picking a direction and now the Nets you know the Nets organization has a clear direction and it’s that long-term rebuild. Absolutely. I mean, I want to get into what you said about Bill Simmons potentially, you know, wanting the Nets to go all in on Giannis. Just to address that rumor for all the Nets fans who for a hot second wanted the Nets to go after Giannis, I think that might be the craziest take I’ve ever heard in Netsland. I think going after Giannis in three years, two, three years, when you maybe have your young core built and you’re ready to contend and you just need a superstar to lead the way, then you trade for Giannis. Trading for Giannis right now on a team that has no shot of contending whatsoever, giving up all those assets, taking on his contract wouldn’t make any sense. It would make sense when you have your young core built, you’re ready to contend, you have your role players, and then you just need that strong number one option to be the guy who ultimately brings you to the promised land. And I think that’s when would be the right decision to trade for Giannis. Not right now. So, I think this take from Bill Simmons is absolutely crazy. I think the Mets did a a great job. like you said, great point there, finding their own direction, and it was, in my opinion, a bit of a surprising direction, but they found their lane, and I think that’s the way they’re going to tread throughout this entire rebuild. So, now let’s move on to Bill Simmons take about the Cam Johnson trade. That might be even worse than uh what he just said, calling the Nets off season awful. Let’s take a listen. They’re going to take an asset and the man contract. Uh the Porter Jr. deal, you know, I know it’s an unprotected and 32 for that, but you know, I was thinking about this. I’m like, wouldn’t you have had to give up a pick just to get off of Porter Jr. at like 80 million the next two years? This is going to be one of the things I brought up to you today. What if they had offered No, what if they had offered Brooklyn, here’s Michael Porter. We’ll give you a 2032 first. Just absorb him into the cap space? Like, do the Nets do that? Well, clearly they would have done it because they gave him Cam Johnson. But that’s the thing was like, did they have to even put Cam Johnson in the trade? I I just think that trade, the more I thought about it over the last five days, I’m like, that’s one of the worst trades of the decade. I think that’s a crazier take than calling the Nets off a one of the worst trades of the decade. I would have loved to be be on that podcast, even just be the producer backstage and like roll my eyes a little bit because that’s insane in my opinion. Jed, I think Michael Border Jr. is a way better basketball player than Cam Johnson is in multiple different facets. Plus, you had a pick that’s going to be a prime asset. I mean, Nicole Joic is going to be 37 years old the year of that selection. Kind of run down run down your thoughts there on on Simmons take calling the Cam Johnson trade and I quote, “One of the worst of the decade.” It’s asinine. I mean, it’s it’s ridiculous. one of the worst trades of the decade and we haven’t seen either of them take the floor for for their new team. I mean it’s it’s cra I mean I’m seeing in the comments now somebody said Bill Simmons is rage baiting. I think he might be this this might be a take, you know, for this might be a take for the views. I don’t know. But listen, Cam Johnson is a fantastic player and he proved that he could be one of the best role players in the league with the Nets the past two years. he got that opportunity as one of the top scoring options and he took full advantage, you know, shooting nearly 50% from the field and 40% from three, uh, averaging 19 points just about. He’s a fantastic role player and he’s going to make the Nuggets a lot better. Um, I think he fits the Nuggets play style a lot more than Porter Jr. I think he’s more prone to playing within a system whereas Porter Jr. is very shoot first. Um, obviously he’s earned the reputation of not passing and and being a score first player, but I think Porter Jr. now, and he said this, um, you know, he last night put out a put out a video talking about his situation and and the whole trade. He said that his ceiling kind of plateaued in in Denver. And frankly, I agree with that, you know, as the third option, you know, potentially even fourth in in certain situations behind Aaron Gordon. I think he was the fourth option, but on any other team, I think he would have been the third. But I just think Aaron Gordon had such a big role on that championship team. Right. So he talked about how his ceiling plateaued and it did. And I think in Brooklyn now coming in as the first scoring option, we’re going to see a big jump in his production, particularly in the scoring department. And let’s not forget that Porter Jr. although he has the reputation of being a shoot first player, shot 50% from the field last year and 40% from three. He was incredibly efficient despite what the critics say. And now when we when we talk about defense, I think Cam Johnson’s a much better defender. I think he’s a smarter defender. Okay. See, see, that’s where we disagree on that. I I you could argue on ball defense is a little better, but I think MPJ is a better rebounder. 10,000%. I mean, oh, absolutely. Better. Yeah, he averaged seven points. He averaged seven rebounds a game last season. Absolutely. And that Yeah. And that comes with being 6’10. Um whereas Johnson is a 6’8. He’s more of a perimeter defender than than Porter Jr. I think Porter Jr. is probably a better interior defender, obviously a better rebounder like you said, but I think Cam Johnson fits the Nuggets identity a little more. I think he’s going to have an easier time playing with Jokic just because he’s a little more prone to passing the ball and getting teammates involved. So, in terms of, you know, the, you know, the win, you know, who won the trade scenario, I would I I wouldn’t label anybody as a winner just yet because we don’t know where the Nuggets are going to end up in a stacked Western Conference. And by the way, a very overlooked part of this trade is that 2032 first round pick that is 7 years down the line from today. That’s going to be somewhat of my sister’s grade right now. By the way, my sisterly going into sixth grade. Let’s keep that in mind. Yeah, you traded you you you just the Nets got a sixth grader uh in in the in the Cam Johnson trade. But my point being like we don’t know where the Nuggets are going to be in seven years. Jokic might not even be on the team in seven years. He’s going to be what around 37 38 years old. We we we don’t know where he’s going to be and we don’t know where Jamal Murray’s going to be. We don’t even know where Cam Johnson’s going to be 7 years down the line. And and you know, with that being said, the Nuggets might not even be a playoff team. And in 7 years, if the Nuggets aren’t in the playoffs and they’re a lottery team and the Nets own that pick, we’re going to be looking back on this trade a lot differently. Um so I think for now, you can’t label it as one of the worst trades of the decade, first of all. And then second of all, I think it’s too soon to even judge the trade because we haven’t seen either of these guys take the court. And I think on the surface it makes sense for both sides. Yeah, I just I I think MPJ, you can’t find me, I think, an aspect of basketball maybe than perimeter defense than Cam Johnson is better at than Michael Porter Jr. Plus, you add in that pre premium uh draft asset there. I think it’s a clear win for Brooklyn. Let me just debunk this first. I’ve heard a lot of people in Ned’s Twitter. Um, I’ve been on on Net’s Twitter a ton these past few days and listening to a bunch of Nets podcasts. I’ve been hearing a lot of people say that, “Oh, MPJ can’t stay healthy, get back surgery early in his career. Let’s keep that in mind.” The past few years, there’s no indication of any mingling issues. 2022 2023 played 62 games. Two years ago, he played 81 games. This past season, played 77 games. So, do not worry about Michael Porter Jr’s health. This was an issue that he suffered coming into the league. I mean, he didn’t play his whole rookie season, but since then, he hasn’t showed any lingering signs of that back injury of a knee injury that he suffered earlier on in his career. So, do not be worried about, you know, Michael Porter Jr.’s knee and back as a reason to be deterred and call this trade a bad deal. So, that’s what I wanted to throw in there regarding MPJ’s health. Appreciate you all tuning in. Smash the like button, hit subscribe. Jed Cats, Connor Long with you guys right here on a Thursday edition of the Brooklyn Boys Show. Throw all your questions, comments, thoughts in the chat. We’re going to start off with those. So, load them up. Um, right in the chat. Throw everything there. Jed and I will be reacting to them. Jack Driscoll comes in. Says, “I was hoping the Angelo Russell would just stay in Brooklyn forever so he wouldn’t be so he wouldn’t bother anyone relevant.” Ugh. Um, listen, I D’Angelo Russell is always going to be somewhat of a Brooklyn icon for what he did back in in 2019, getting a team that was supposed to be towards the bottom of the barrel, getting them to the playoffs. Um, I certainly appreciated what he did. He brought a sense of flare and youth to Brooklyn. Um, that then led into Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving obviously teaming up in Brooklyn, so he had to, you know, he was obviously on his way out. But in terms of what he in terms of him staying, uh I don’t know if that was ever really going to happen. I don’t think that there was this expectation that he would stay in Brooklyn, even though a lot of fans were hoping for it. Um he was always going, you know, he’s an aging at this point. He’s an aging veteran. Um he was always going to end up on a different team on a playoff contender and I think he has the right home in Dallas. Um you know, obviously Kyrie’s going to be out uh through most of the season, so they needed a point guard. So, you get a guy like Russell who at this point in his career is more of, you know, a role player and trying to fit in with a with a playoff contender. I think that’s the right fit for him and I don’t think he would have ever found success if he if he had stayed in Brooklyn. Uh, see, I I kind of I’m a very very new Nets fan, Jed. I have a very Did I I don’t even know if I shared the story with you off air. I typically do with a lot of the guests. We talk about Nets fandom and that I know you grew up a Knicks fan, but um what I um it was super funny. So, I’m a Met My dad doesn’t follow basketball. I inherited all my dad’s teams, though. Mets, Mets, Jets, and Rangers. I’m not really much of a hockey fan, so kind of count out of the count the Rangers out of that equation there. But, so Mets and Jets is my two primary teams. Jets haven’t won more than seven games in a decade. Haven’t seen a Jet playoff game in my lifetime. Mets, on the other hand, pieced together a solid year last year, but you know, a few years ago, the Mets weren’t all that great. They got off to a rough start last year, too, before stringing some wins together down the stretch. But I was like, “All right, I was getting into basketball as the super team was being formed.” So I was like, “I’m not winning a championship with the Mets or the Jets. I’m getting into basketball. Um, getting into basketball. So the Nets are from Brooklyn. I wouldn’t be a total bandwagon. Brooklyn’s in New York. I live on Long Island. So I’m like, uh, this is my chance to win a championship as a fan.” So I’m like, I’m becoming a Nets fan. And I think I might be the curse because ever since then been nothing but but pain and misery. I I wasn’t really um a big fan to witness the the DLO glory days in Brooklyn, but certainly hear all about how much of an impact he’s had on this organization. I mean, the other long-lasting veteran you think of is Spencer Denwy, but obviously that ended on awful terms. You heard him going on the uh Theo Pinson podcast and absolutely ripping the Nets uh last year for not trading him for apparently effectively trying to end his career saying, you know, voicing out um character concerns to a bunch of other GMs. So I always think of that Russell and Denwy as those two, you know, kind of longlasting Nets because Nets are a very very young team right now. I think the longest tenure net is Nick Claxton. How long has Nick Claxton been with the Nets? Was that pre-bubble, postbubble? uh might have been right drafted. I think he was drafted in 21. He might he might have been a rookie during that bubble year. Um or maybe 21. Wow. He was drafted in 2019. Jeez. Yeah. So, he’s been with that team for a while. So, that bubble year was his rookie year. Yeah. Okay. Interesting. Yeah. I I do not remember. Obviously, Nick Claxton’s been on the team probably the longest out of anyone on this roster right now, but I didn’t know it was uh that long. Let’s see. Luces, if Bill Simmons is talking [ __ ] you know, you did a good job. I mean, you’re right. As much as I love listening to Bill Simmons, um I think he he has a lot of insightful takes, but I think when it comes hater, um I think he’s kind of built that reputation over the last 10 years or so. Um but, uh yeah, when when Bill Simmons is is clowning on your organization, you know that there’s a good chance that this ends up working out for you in the long run. Um, let’s see. Range Rove, who by the way, Jed, is a Nuggets fan. Longtime Nuggets fan of 20 plus years, I believe, who since MPJ was traded, found this pod and he’s been since converted into a Brooklyn Nets fan. So, there’s another member now of the uh, welcome to the Nets family. Nets fan base. Um, and says a lot of people look dumb. Brooklyn making the playoffs. Um, I don’t even I don’t really know how to respond to that. The Nets higher than more people on this team. I don’t think playoffs though, like I I I I think if they like really if they don’t tank, I think they can be an 11 or 12 seed. Yeah. Well, so so the East is obviously going to be significantly more weak than than last uh than this past year just with all the injuries and then obviously it seems like it seems like half of the Eastern Conference I is, you know, moving towards the lottery and then the other half of the Eastern Conference is trying to win a championship. Um, and so when you have two polar when you have, you know, such a polarizing conference, um, I think that creates a lot of leeway for like the middle spots. I think, you know, in reality, the Nets could be that, you know, you know, final playin team if that is if things go right this year because I don’t think there’s any expectation that the Nets are in the postseason. But with this Eastern Conference and how weak it is, you know, they they could be right up there, you know, trying to get that 10 spot. And we saw that earlier in the year, um, you know, at one point in February and March, the Nets were, you know, one, you know, one maybe a half game out of the playing spot at one point. Yeah. The thing is that I will throw in there though, Cam Johnson cont, I mean, you could say MPJ replaced him. Biggest point, Dennis Shruder contributed to a lot of the wins earlier in the season. I don’t know if the Nets have that veteran facilitator. And then obviously D’Angelo Russell down the stretch. I want to be as optimistic of a Nets fan as as humanly possible. That’s what I want to do. And I’m more optimistic than most of the fan base right now saying I think they can be a 10 through 12 seed this season. And I think the the main other thing last year is they had a deeper bench in my opinion. I think they had more guys they can come in and trust to give you 20 minutes a night. Seems very very young this year. I don’t know how many reliable options off the bench there. I mean I’m going to throw a heater at you here. If you had to predict the Nets starting five this season, o, who would you go? I I go Yagore CT. Assuming that he’s back on the roster, I’d go Yor CT. The three is where it gets interesting. I’d go Zire at the three, MPJ at the four, Claxton at the five, and then CL or or I would do MPJ at the three, Clowny at the four, Claxton at the five. One of one of one of those combinations. I I I see I want to see Dron Sharp. That’s why I just wanted to trade Claxton. Trey Claxton get as much value as he can for him right now and put Dayron Sharp, the guy who’s one of the most efficient rebounders in all of basketball in there to get run with the the starting uh starting lineup. Yeah, I mean I’m Well, I’m right there with you on moving Claxton. I think uh he would bring back an insane amount of value uh if if the Nets were to send him to a team that needs a center. I know back at the deadline the Lakers were really eyeing Claxton and Don Sharp, but obviously they’re both still on the on the roster. My starting five, I’m right there with you. Jag girl at the one and then hopefully, you know, if he’s back, Cam Thomas at the two. I don’t know where that’s going to I don’t know where that’s going to go, but it looks like there’s no market for him. So, I would assume that he’s going to be back on the roster. So, I go Jaor Cam, and I’m going to throw a bit of a hot take at you here. Um, I’m gonna go Michael Porter Jr. at the three. I could see that. Definitely. I could that’s fair. But we, this past season, we saw a lot of success with those double big lineups. Um, with, you know, specifically with the Houston Rockets, another team that I’ve been covering, you know, they threw out Alpine Shangon and Steven Adams as a double big lineup, and they were incredibly efficient together. They had like a plus 39 rating when they were on the floor together. Why not give, you know, Danny Wolf a look at the four, you know, and and and I’m going to explain why he played the four. Now, a lot of people don’t know he played the four at Michigan. You know, Vlad Golden was his five at Michigan. They worked a great um one-two game. Um you know, es especially in the low pick and roll. Um Wolf obviously built a reputation as a great facilitator. I wouldn’t be surprised if for a couple of games Jordy gets a little experimental and starts throwing, you know, this double big lineup of Danny Wolf and Nick Claxton. Especially because I especially because Claxton I think compliments Wolfe so well because Wol is a guy who plays uh a lot on the perimeter. And um for a guy like Claxton who’s very much like a rim runner, he he can’t his range isn’t really extended. I appreciate it. I appreciate I think I’m cooking here. But um you know Claxton is very much a defensive anchor. I think he would take a lot of those defensive responsibilities off of Wol if Wolf were to play the four. So, I wouldn’t be surprised if Jordy gets a little experimental, especially with, you know, the amount of time that the Nets have to develop these guys. Yeah. I mean, I think I want Danny Wolf to get starting reps, whether it’s in Brooklyn or Long Island. I want these rookies to be playing and I think the way the Nets have kind of utilized Long Island over the past few years has been very very wonderful in the sense that they’re getting rookies run who maybe are the, you know, the 10, you know, coming off the bench as maybe a reserve in Brooklyn, but they’re starting and giving you 20 points a night in Long Island. I think you got need to get these rookies playing because you can’t put them all on the court together. That’s another downside of this draft class. You can’t play them all together just due to the positional value. So, I think you want these rookies playing as much as possible, whether it’s in Brooklyn, whether it’s in Long Island. I think I I think a Danny Wolf Day Dron Sharp for five can look really really solid. Uh just because you get the you get the defensive versatility and Sharp who can guard multiple positions. I I just think Nick Claxton has lost his defensive prowess. Like I I just don’t think Nick Claxton is that great of a defender. So if you can get Dron Sharp in there as your five who can defend multiple positions for you, who can rebound, and then Danny Wolf who could be your shooter, he could hit the three ball. Like I think there are a lot of similarities between Noah Clowny and Danny Wolf. I think Danny Wolf is a little more lengthy and a little more athletic than Noah Clowny is, but I think there’s a lot of similarities in their in their kind of shooting game. Where do you think Noah Clowny fits in this year, not having him in your starting lineup? And uh like where is he a bench option? How does he fit in? I mean, I would see him more as a bench option, but I would see him more at the power forward than the center. Um, I think he is more of a stretch four, a guy who can, you know, space out and hit the three ball. I think that’s one of the bigger things that, um, I think he could thrive in is being a four. And, um, yeah, I I I I can’t see him really working his way into the starting five just because of the amount of youth that this team has. I think that there are guys that the Nets might prioritize over Noah Clowny. Um, but again, um, you know, Shawn Mark said during the press conference that he expects, uh, most of these guys to spend some time in Long Island. You know, he doesn’t I I I don’t think we should expect to see all of these guys playing the entire season in Brooklyn. Maybe maybe Jaor spends the spends the entire season in Brooklyn if that. But I mean this is going to be a huge developmental year for uh for the Nets and that should come with almost all of these, you know, I if I were Markx and you know we can play GM and coach all we want, but I would have these guys spending a lot of time in Long Island and developing their game. Um and we saw that with a lot of the rookies from last year. Um, you know, obviously last year’s draft class wasn’t highly regarded, but we saw a lot of those rookies, uh, even some lottery picks spending a lot of time in Long Island, or not Long Island, uh, in in the G-League and and this year, I think the Nets should do more of the same and send a lot of these guys uh, down into the G-League and develop those guys. Yeah, Range Ro, I like Brooklyn roster more than gast Orlando and people rating the Magic going into the season. The thing with the Nets is this roster has a lot of upside. It really really does. But it’s it’s only hype until it it it turns it becomes fruition. That’s the bottom line. I’ve been a Jet fan my whole life. I’ve covered the Jets for almost two years now. I know all about, you know, upside and false hope. So, I think it’s all upside right now until it really be turns into fruition. I mean, can this team be a 10 or 11 seed? I still hold out hope that that can be the case, but I think you need to get off to a strong start to the year and I think you need to string together a few wins down the stretch. The Nets could have easily been a playoff team last year, but they got off to a very, very hot start. They were 10 10 and eight or whatever it was first 18 20 games into the year and then they slowly died down towards the end of the year. They weren’t able to string together wins. I think it’s a contingent of now at this point getting off to a hot start to the season and stringing together wins on the back half of the year. Yeah, I mean I I think last year was more or less what I expected. You know, I if this team did get off to a hot start, which they did, they would eventually die down. I think I think we’ve seen that a lot in the NBA. Um where maybe some some lower level teams, you know, teams toward the basement of the league maybe get off to, you know, around a 500 star. People start to think, oh, you know, maybe they could make a little bit of a run here. But I, you know, eventually and and just looking at the personnel with with this Net’s roster the past year, um I don’t think there was any real expectation that they would be in the playoffs. I think eventually they, you know, they fizzled out as they should have and um, you know, even um, towards the end of the season they were hovering around the playin tournament. It was a very slim chance that they were actually going to play uh, to their full potential just because, you know, the Cam Thomas injury obviously affected you. He he, you know, only played a quarter of the season and and sat the rest of the year. So, I I don’t know if there was any real expectation for this team to to do any damage in the East, but going into this year, like you said, this team has a lot of upside. I don’t know if they’ll tap into that upside just yet because this is year one of this, you know, historic draft class, but um you know, we’ll see what happens. I I’m very optimistic about this team. Yeah, I absolutely. I think I think the biggest thing that people are overlooking now at this point kind of because it’s just people are taking it for granted now is that I think the Nets have found their long-term coach in Jordy Fernandez. I think that’s the hope. I know a lot of fans like Jordy, but I don’t think people are acknowledging how important that really is in a rebuild. Again, another Jets comparison here. You go through multiple different coaches. You have Adam Gase, for example, from the Jets perspective for two years. He wins you four games over two seasons down the drain. You bring in Robert Salo, you think can be your long-term option as the head coach, wins seven games two years in a row and then wins five games with a fully healthy Aaron Rogers and gets fired midway through the season. So, I think the biggest thing is finding your long-term coach. And I think the Nets have that in Jordy Fernandez. And I don’t think the fan base is really honing in on how important that is to have your coach who can develop your young core, who can, you know, build a rapport with your locker room, build a rapport with your GM. I don’t know if they have their long-term GM though. maybe in the net size, but I don’t think Shawn Mark like what are your thoughts on Shawn Marks? I want to get your thoughts on Marks because I know a lot of the fan base doesn’t like him. I don’t like Shawn Marks at all. I think Shawn Marks I I say he’s the cat who has nine lives. I mean, this guy the only thing that he can really do is draft. I know he’s throwing together some trades, but I like who he is as a drafter and the guy drafted with the 29th overall pick in the NBA draft a few years ago remains on the restricted free agent market and he refuses to pay the guy after he pans out. just a lot of puzzling decisions in my opinion that come from Shawn Marks. How would you kind of rate his tenure in Brooklyn and do you think he’s on the hot seat? Well, I would put him in the hot seat, but um I think at first uh you know I I first started covering the Nets around 2022 2023. Why would I? Yeah. And I think you know after they traded Durant and and and Kyrie, they were kind of sitting in this in this state of mediocrity. they were sitting in NBA purgatory because they didn’t have, you know, their draft picks at the time. And uh they had some solid guys like Mal Bridges and Cam Johnson that were winning enough games but not losing enough games. And you know, for a while I I wasn’t high on him at all. But I think with what he’s been able to do over the last year or so, you know, acquiring these draft picks, uh, setting the Nets up in terms of uh, the salary cap and cap space and, you know, in the future, listen, I don’t know if the the Nets aren’t going to can Shawn Marks right now. Like, I if if that’s if that’s the if Net fans are wanting Shawn Marks to go, they’re they’re going to be disappointed because he’s not going any, you know, at least right now. And um I say that because he’s done he’s done what he needs to do to set them up for success. Now they’re not successful yet. Um they obviously have a ways to go, but he’s laying the foundation with these draft picks in the salary cap space to where, you know, you might need to let them cook a little more here. You know, let’s let’s give them let let’s wait a couple years. Let’s wait like two or three years, see where the Nets are at, and then I would, you know, determine whether you want to keep him or can him. But, um, I love, uh, I love Jordy Fernandez. I think he was absolutely the right coach that they needed to bring in. He’s a very, uh, developmental coach. Um, when he came in here during his, uh, you know, he got interviewed by Yes Network, I remember. And one of the things that he was preaching is selflessness and and being able to um being able to push the pace and being able to, you know, stray away from this, you know, me first, score first mentality and buy into that, you know, team first mentality, which, you know, years down the line reflects what the Indiana Pacers have done over the last year and and how they got to the finals. And I think um the Nets now, especially with this draft class, like it fits that that um motto of like, hey, we’re going to push the pace. We’re going to facilitate. We’re going to run the floor, and we’re going to play to our strengths. And I think that’s what Jordy Fernandez is going to do with this with this young group. Yeah, absolutely. Appreciate you all tuning in. Smash the like button, hit subscribe. Jed and Connor right here with you on a Thursday edition of the Brooklyn Boys Show. Appreciate you all tuning in. As always, another show in the books right here on the Brooklyn Boys Show. back tomorrow 9:00 a.m. EST, recapping the Nets Thunder summer league game tonight, tip off at 5:30 p.m. EST. So certainly stay tuned for that. Jed Pan, thank you enough for hopping on. You got any final thoughts you want to share with everyone here before we let you go? And then let everyone know where they can find you on uh socials and all your incredible work? Yeah. Um well, my Twitter is JedcatsNBA. Um I, you know, check out my articles on uh Nets on Sports Illustrated as well as the Believe in Nets podcast on the Believe Network. just put out an episode yesterday uh talking about the talking about the Michael Porter Jr. trade as well as a bit of a summer league preview. So yeah, just check me out on those platforms. Connor, I appreciate you for having me on. This was awesome. Love talking Nets off season as always. Absolutely. We definitely have to do this again soon. This is super super fun. So appreciate you spending some time. Appreciate you joining us right here on the show. Everyone appreciate you watching. He’s Jed Cats. I’m Connor Long. Have a great day everyone. And as always, go Nets.

Bill Simmons just TORCHED the Brooklyn Nets’ offseason — and fans MUST hear this. On this episode of The Brooklyn Boys Show, host Connor Long is joined by Jed Katz, publisher for Nets on SI and host of the Bleav in Nets podcast, to break down Simmons’ viral comments, react to Brooklyn’s controversial offseason decisions, and discuss what’s next for the franchise. Are the Nets headed in the wrong direction? Is the front office losing the fanbase? All that and more in this must-watch episode for every Brooklyn Nets fan.

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