NEW YORK — Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka believes Ben Simmons will have a significant impact for the Nets on both ends of the floor when he joins the roster — provided they maximize their small window of time to develop chemistry with the new players they acquired in the James Harden trade.
Udoka was on the Nets’ staff last season, when Brooklyn fell just short of the NBA Finals after injuries to both Harden and Kyrie Irving in their second-round playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks.
“We were a rolled ankle or a toe on the line away from a championship, in our opinion here last year,” he reminisced on Thursday. “So it wasn’t far off.”
Udoka was also an assistant on ex-Philadelphia 76ers coach Brett Brown’s staff in the 2019-20 season — the year Simmons made First Team All-Defense, Third Team All-NBA and the 2020 NBA All-Star Game.
Ahead of his Celtics’ matchup against the Nets on Thursday, Boston’s head coach stopped short of saying who won the trade that sent Simmons, Seth Curry and Andre Drummond to the Nets, but praised Simmons’ fit in a star-studded Nets rotation that also features superstar scorers Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving.
“He complements what they have and what they don’t have: a guy that’s a one-man fast break, and then you add the scorers and shooters all around him,” the ex-Nets assistant said. “Obviously that’s gonna be formidable, but another guy that can switch and do what they want to do defensively. Obviously one of the elite defenders, as well, so (a) huge complement to that group.”
He also lauded the additional acquisitions of Curry and Drummond, two players who fill immediate needs for a Nets team that forewent a complete roster for superstar power.
“Ben, and not just Ben, (it’s) all around — the addition of Curry, the addition of Drummond — some of those guys, it’s multiple pieces,” Udoka said. “So they’ve checked a lot of boxes in terms of backups and depth, and obviously adding Ben to the mix.”
Simmons has yet to make his Nets debut, and head coach Steve Nash said conditioning is the sticking point for the 25-year-old forward who spent the entire season away from the Sixers before his trade to Brooklyn. Durant also has not played since spraining the MCL in his left knee on Jan. 15, and Irving is only part-time and available to play on the road until New York City repeals its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Time is not on Brooklyn’s side. Thursday’s matchup against the Celtics marks their 23rd remaining game in the regular season, and Nash said he doesn’t expect Durant or new veteran guard Goran Dragic to play Saturday against the Milwaukee Bucks, either.
Udoka believes the addition of Simmons makes the Nets one of the strongest teams in all of basketball, but it’s the NBA’s worst kept secret that they might not have enough time to string it all together.
“When they’re healthy, regardless of Ben or not, you’ve got a few of the best players in the world off top,” the Celtics coach said. “So they’re gonna be formidable, but adding him to the mix is gonna be good.
“It’s just — we’ll see if they have the time to get it to jell more so than anything.”
