The Nets have a problem at this point.
Fixing that could determine when or whether to fix the listing season.
Adding Atlanta guard Dejounte Murray from the outside would be costly, but Brooklyn appears to be interested.
And while there may be all this smoke and no fire yet, there are at least some sparks.
I wonder if it's sorted out internally? Although cheaper, it is more difficult, if not completely impossible.
Injury-plagued Ben Simmons has played in just 39 of a possible 146 regular-season games since joining the Nets in February 2022 and hasn't appeared since Nov. 6. .
Spencer Dinwiddie started during his absence and went into an extended funk.
Dennis Smith Jr. is a limited offensive backup.
In other words, Brooklyn is in trouble, having dropped 13 of its previous 16 games heading into a three-game West Coast road trek that began Wednesday night in Portland.
However, the most obvious of those concerns is the lead guard position.
The Nets are in dire need of a point guard who can score, attack downhill and create shots for others. Murray fits the bill perfectly. And their timeline at 27 years old.
He's averaging 20.8 points, 4.8 assists and 4.8 rebounds for the Hawks, who traded three first-round picks, a pick swap, and gave up Danilo Gallinari to acquire him, and then traded him for next season. He was given a four-year contract extension worth $114 million.
For that matter, Murray was even better on the ball in San Antonio before being sidelined by the presence of Trae Young in Atlanta.
Murray's only All-Star appearance came two years ago, when he excelled, averaging 21.1 points, 9.2 assists (4th in the NBA), and 8.3 boards for Nets GM Sean Marks' Spurs, best in the league. He recorded 2.0 steals per game.
Whether Brooklyn's solution comes from within or from the outside, the Nets need to find it. A lot of their plans for this season were predicated on acquiring Simmons and him being healthy. They have rarely experienced the former and have never seen the latter.
Simmons was able to do 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 work and traveled to Portland.
A source said Simmons was “making good progress.” It remains to be seen whether that means he'll suit up when the Nets return home to face the rival Knicks next week, or if that's too ambitious.
Either way, it's dangerous to expect Simmons to be the cure for the disease.
Throughout the early stages of the season, Dinwiddie appeared to be at least the short-term answer, if not long-term.
Brooklyn's hot 13-10 start seems like a distant memory, a hazy memory. Dinwiddie played in all but one of those games, averaging 14.7 points, four assists, shooting 40.1 percent (33.6 percent from 3-point range) and a plus-4.1 average.
That appearance seems like a distant memory.
Over the last seven games, Dinwiddie is averaging 8.1 points, four assists, 33.3/25.0 shooting, and an eye-popping minus-12.9 points per game.
Dinwiddie, 30, is the oldest player on Brooklyn's roster and is considered the most likely player to be moved before the Feb. 8 trade deadline. Sources told the Post that the team acquired Dinwiddie with the Nets last season, and SNY reported that the Hawks were on base earlier this season.
Dinwiddie has lost playing time to Smith and has only played under 30 minutes once so far in 2024. He was placed on the bench at critical moments as a defensive-minded reserve in the game against Portland on January 7th and the loss to the Heat on January 15th.
“Ask us to make the right plays, but it's always been performance-based and even more so now,” coach Jack Vaughn said. “We're going to send our players out to perform. We're going to have to make some tough decisions to finish the game. That's going to push the players on our team to be ready at the start of the game and play four quarters.” I hope so.”
Murray has been linked to the Lakers, Knicks, Spurs, Warriors and more. The Hawks are seeking two first-round picks and an expiring contract, and Dinwiddie is under contract for $18.9 million (with a cap hit of $20.4 million). Murray will earn $17.7 million ($500,000 in incentives) before the extension begins.
Despite being the league's biggest trade kicker ($13.5 million), Murray could just be a trade to jump-start Brooklyn's offense.
