The Nets are trending toward being the league's worst team, as expected, and their decision to put more emphasis on a long-term rebuild by trading away star point guard Dennis Schroder on Sunday left the team in trouble. I was made to stand.
It showed on the court Monday in a miserable 130-101 gut-punch loss to the Cavaliers and former Nets coach Kenny Atkinson.
“There's definitely more work to be done there. It's definitely by committee. Dennis had to have the ball for a lot of the game,” Cam Johnson said Monday about the loss of Schroder. We talked about making up for it. “When the ball goes in, [Ben Simmons’] Using many hands, it will be very important for us to think about how to cut and move, find open windows and create space on the floor.
“That's the name of the game right now. We have what we have, and I respect our group and know that we will take this personally. ”
Instead of an identity as a surprising rebuilding team, the Nets have been given a new identity as a group of tank misfits with no intentional direction other than to stay down until the 2025-26 season.
“I trust them. I trust the team. I trust the coach,” Nic Claxton said on whether the Nets can right the ship after the Schroder trade. “It was just a weird atmosphere. Like it was weird in practice, I'll just be honest. So we all need to regroup and come together and control what we can control.” There was.”
“When you lose a player like that, it's tough,” Claxton added. “He seemed to give us a lot. Like, he brought a lot on and off the court. He brought energy and toughness. He gave us a lot. So you really have to give him a lot of credit. So everyone else has to fill in the areas where he actually helped us. ”
Schroder is a second-round draft pick in exchange for seven-year veteran guard De'Anthony Melton, rookie Reece Beekman, and three second-round picks (Atlanta in 2026 and 2028, Warriors in 2029). He was sent to the Warriors along with the pick. ).
Schroder, a Brooklyn native, averaged a career-best 18.4 points and led the Nets to a 10-15 record and the Eastern Conference's final playoff spot.
With Schroder unable to handle the ball on Monday, the Nets scrambled and committed 20 turnovers, giving up 34 points to Cleveland.
They also allowed a shocking 32-5 deficit in the first quarter.
“It was a combination of things. It was definitely [new playing style without Schroder]Obviously that was a contributing factor,” Claxton said. “But we didn't play hard enough. We just didn't fight. We didn't take care of the ball and honestly just did everything wrong.”
“I'm fighting with my guys, and my guys here are going to have to fight, and if they don't fight, there will be consequences,” head coach Jordi Fernandez said on Monday. .
Before the Schroder trade, the Nets were drafted No. 15 and had no chance of getting a top-four pick.
Since Monday, the Nets have been ranked No. 8, and as the team continues to lose, their chances of being picked in the top four only increase.
The shuffle may not be over yet, as veterans Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith remain on the trade market.
Johnson is having the best season of his Nets career, averaging 18.6 points per game and shooting 48 percent from the field, and has two years left on his contract.
Finney-Smith would fit on most teams with his elite defensive play and ability to shoot 3-pointers at 45 percent on 5.6 attempts per game.
Trade or not, the identity battle for the Nets is likely to get even bigger.
