Ben Simmons Gives KD, Kyrie and the Nets a Shot to Win the Warrior Way
From 2016 to 2019, Kevin Durant was in the perfect situation. He had a revolutionary scorer and superstar in Stephen Curry by his side. They both had the luxury of a second splash mate in Klay Thompson. And they had a head coach in Steve Kerr who kept a copacetic offense despite having just a single basketball to go around.
But KD had something else with those Golden State Warriors. He had one of the game's most unique stars in Draymond Green, an elite defender whose offensive impact was never about filling their own gaps but creating and exploiting holes for opposing defenses, all without the need to actually score.
That is what Durant's Nets team has needed, and it's what they now may have in Ben Simmons.
With the massive haul they acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers, namely adding Simmons to the core of Durant and Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets have a chance to build a Golden State Warriors type of team and system.
Simmons is no Green. Not as far as the accolades, and not anywhere near the reputation. But the player archetype is similarly unique. The skill sets are both rare. The elite combination of passing and defense can make life easy both on star teammates and crucial role guys night in and night out.
Durant thrived in the Warriors system before coming to the Nets.
Irving works well both on the ball and coming off screens.
Brooklyn now has two different 40 percent three-point shooters in Patty Mills and Seth Curry.
Steve Nash comes from the Warriors system, having worked as a part-time player development coach for Golden State prior to becoming a head coach. Following Brooklyn's deadline deal, he can now open up the floor and incorporate Simmons similar to how the Warriors have Draymond quarterbacking their offense.
Short-Roll Simmons
Simmons is flawed as an offensive player. It's not just that he can't shoot, but it is more that he is unwilling to shoot. That was a genuine issue for the Sixers, but that will not be a problem for the Nets. Brooklyn, when healthy, has plenty of firepower around him.
That will open up the opportunity for the Nets to use Simmons the same way the Warriors use Green on offense.
In Golden State, Green is a playmaker off his ability to set screens. That comes in the form of pick-and-rolls and dribble-handoffs. As teams would put more focus on Stephen Curry, it allows Green to short roll to get the ball back. Off of that action, he is able to attack a four-on-three situation. It works because of his passing skill.
With Simmons, the Nets can run the same action with more height, athleticism and an even better passer. Irving's skill on the ball and in the pick-and-roll can force defenses to trap him. When they switch, Simmons can punish his mismatch in the post.
In Philadelphia, Simmons was required to handle the ball much more. With limited ball handlers, Simmons was often initiating the pick-and-roll and was rarely the screener. The rare times he was the screener, the Sixers often got a good look.
For example, here Seth Curry comes off the Simmons screen, hits him on the short roll, which sucked in the Wizards defense and opened up the pass to Danny Green for the wide open three.
Running an Irving-Simmons high pick-and-roll, with Durant on one side, a big in the dunker spot, and either Mills or Curry on the other side should create sufficient spacing. It's a similar alignment that made the Warriors' offense so difficult to defend.
Unleashing Simmons in the short roll will put defenses in a difficult bind. If he is not spraying it out to their shooters, he has lob threats in the dunker spot, and of course he can go score it himself.
This is not just the only Warriors' action the Nets should look to use.
Post Splits
There is plenty of evidence of Durant thriving in a Warriors-like offense. It helped that he was paired with two of the best shooters in the game. The Nets are not that far from this construction, though.
Irving is a career 39.1 percent three-point shooter. Patty Mills is shooting 42.2 percent from three this season. The newly acquired Seth Curry is shooting 40 percent from deep this year. It will be difficult to play all three at once, but Brooklyn can always have at least two deadeye shooters on the floor at all times. That is not accounting for Durant as well.
With all of this shooting, it would make sense for the Nets to run another familiar Warriors action, the dreaded post splits.
Using Simmons, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge as trigger men for the post spits, the Nets can find opportunities for threes and slips to the basket, slotting Andre Drummond, Nic Claxton and James Johnson into the dunker spot or as weak-side screeners.
Any combination of Durant, Irving, Mills and Curry all screening for each other in the post split should give defenses headaches.
Much like the Warriors, the Nets have several high-IQ players from Durant and Irving on down the roster. The movement from Curry and Mills should slide right into an offensive system similar to Golden State's. Simmons as the versatile screener and passer will find them.
Griffin himself is another high-IQ player on the roster who can thrive in this type of offense. He's always had good court vision and is a willing passer. Claxton and Drummond should benefit greatly from the dunker spot receiving high-low lobs off of the short roll actions with defenses scrambling to get to their shooters. Very similar to how Kevon Looney operates in Golden State.
With Ben Simmons now a Net, Brooklyn has a Draymond Green-like player who can transform its offense and make it less reliant on Durant and Irving to create everything.
Turning Brooklyn into Golden State East might be its best path to a title the next few seasons.
Mo Dakhil spent six years with the Los Angeles Clippers and two years with the San Antonio Spurs as a video coordinator, as well as three years with the Australian men's national team. Follow him on Twitter, @MoDakhil_NBA.
