Nets hoping for less drama, more wins

Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson won’t grab as many headlines or sell as many jerseys as Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving did here in Brooklyn.

But that doesn’t mean the Nets won’t be just as, if not more, productive this season.

Especially with a healthy and highly motivated Ben Simmons back on the hardwood.

Having won just one playoff series since bringing their departed superstar tandem here in the summer of 2019, the Nets will tip-off the 2023-24 season with a fresh outlook and admittedly less fanfare when they host the Cleveland Cavaliers at Downtown’s Barclays Center Wednesday.

Bridges and Johnson came here in the February trade that sent Durant to Phoenix. Irving was dealt away to Dallas for Brooklyn favorite Spencer Dinwiddie and Dorian Finney-Smith.

Nets general manager Sean Marks also received a cache of future picks in the swaps, but held them close to the vest this summer, opting not to bring in another potential “superstar”.

That’s where Simmons comes in.

The versatile point guard looms over Brooklyn’s Eastern Conference hopes with his 6-foot-10 frame and previous history of both shining and shrinking under the NBA spotlight.

The 2018 Rookie of the Year and three-time All-Star during his first four seasons in Philadelphia, Simmons has played just 42 games, including 33 starts, here in Brooklyn after arriving from the 76ers in the February 2021 trade that sent James Harden to the City of Brotherly Love.

The Nets (45-37), spearheaded by Bridges, who averaged just over 26 points per game for Brooklyn last season, got swept out of the opening round of the playoffs by Harden and the Sixers last year as the No. 6 seed.