Simmons is going to have 10 games or so to get acclimated, then he's going to face the playoffs. Because they have so many losses, they are going to be tested in the first round. It will be interesting to watch whether he can handle the pressure, and whether KD and Kyrie will show him any real trust. I could see it going OK, or I could see it creating some serious problems with team dynamics.
Teams are going to force him to stand up and make pressure plays. To make foul shots. It doesn't sound like he's been putting in the work.
A lot depends on what Simmons expectations are. Is he really going to be OK being a role player, and possibly not even playing in crunch time?
The next two games are really important for the Nets. Both against Toronto, and Kyrie won’t be available for either. Lose both and they’ll fall 3 back of Toronto, and with only 19 game left after that, it will be hard to get from 8th to 7th. That would mean Toronto hosts a play-in game, and as it currently stands, Kyrie can’t even enter Canada without quarantining for two weeks, so they’d be at a major disadvantage in the 8-7 matchup.
Split and they’re one back still, but hold the tiebreaker. Win both and they’re functionally two up, since they’d have the tiebreaker over Toronto.
