NBA Rumors: Mikal Bridges Ripped Vaughn's Offense; Nets Wanted Focus On Ben Simmons

The Brooklyn Nets reportedly fired head coach Jacque Vaughn on Monday morning, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, and his approach to the team's offensive identity likely played a major role in that decision.

"Multiple players—including Spencer Dinwiddie, who is now departed, and Mikal Bridges—were pretty vocal behind the scenes for months now about how the offense was running," Charania said. "They felt like a lot of what Vaughn was running was being run improperly, without structure. Vaughn came into the year and said, 'We're gonna run a free-for-all offense.' And the team, from what I gather, has been pretty bonded on the fact that developing a hierarchy was important. And when they went into training camp, a lot of their offense was built around Ben Simmons, and him playing at the 1, and him playing at a high level for them."

Any reported plan to rely on Simmons went out the window due to his ongoing health issues.

Simmons has played just 12 games this season (10 starts) and has been largely underwhelming when available, averaging 6.8 points, 8.4 rebounds and 6.5 assists in 25.7 minutes per game while shooting 59.4 percent from the field and just 42.9 percent from the free-throw line. He hasn't attempted a three.

In the past three seasons, Simmons has played just 54 of a possible 218 games. His time with the Nets has been disastrous for the team, as a lingering back injury has kept him off the court and his massive contract—he's making $37.8 million this year and is owed $40.3 million next season—has made him virtually un-tradeable.

So building an offense around him, if true, was an enormous gamble.

The Nets have deeper issues, however, namely a roster devoid of superstar talent. Bridges is a very good player and was an All-Star last season—he's averaging 21.7 points per game this year, down nearly five points from a season ago—but he's likely best cast as the third option on a championship contender.

The Nets are currently a collection of very good role players, but it's tough to sustain success in the NBA without stars. The team's 21-33 record is evidence enough of that.

It didn't start this bad. The Nets were 13-10 on Dec. 13, fresh off a win against the Phoenix Suns. Since then they've gone a woeful 8-23. Changes were needed in Brooklyn, though deadline-day deals that sent Spencer Dinwiddie to Toronto and Royce O'Neale to Phoenix didn't move the needle much.

The next major decision came at head coach, with Vaughn out and uncertainty surrounding who will replace him. Then comes a crucial offseason as the Nets try to establish some sort of plan for building a contender. Whether that's a quick fix or a full rebuild remains to be seen.