The Biggest Question Mark Surrounding the 2024-25 Brooklyn Nets

A valueless asset is set to receive $40.3 million from the organization next season.

Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

Now two seasons removed from the infamous James Harden swap with the Philadelphia 76ers, the Brooklyn Nets remain stuck with Ben Simmons.

The six-foot-ten point forward, once one of the leagues brightest young stars, has become a franchise anchor. Not in the sense that Simmons is the foundation in Brooklyn, rather he is a heavy asset weighing the franchise down.

On the horizon of the 2024 postseason, the off-season will be arriving shortly. Nets fans can expect a workout tape to emerge from Simmons' camp come June or July, displaying the 2018 Rookie of the Year's apparent improved shooting ability and freakish athleticism. Some may get their hopes up, but the reality is that Simmons pulls this stunt every summer.

Ben finna end up breaking out! pic.twitter.com/fHpGPD404Q

— LeDurant James (@ledurant_james) August 11, 2023

Ever since that fateful Game 7 against the Atlanta Hawks in the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals, where Simmons forfeited an easy wide-open layup to pass to a cutting Matisse Thybulle, he's never been the same.

No matter how many hype videos he releases, at this point in his career, Simmons is what he is. Since arriving in Brooklyn, he has never averaged over seven points per game, appearing in just 57 games in a Nets uniform.

Carrying essentially zero trade value and a massive $40.3 million price tag next season, Brooklyn is stuck with him.

The only potential way to move Simmons would be to craft a package including first-round picks and young players that includes him, something general manager Sean Marks cannot afford to swing considering the crossroads the organization currently finds itself facing. The Simmons experiment will go down as one of the worst in NBA history, but thankfully for the Nets fans who no longer have faith in the Australian native, the experiment ends after next season.

Simmons' contract is set to expire following the conclusion of the 2024-25 NBA season, and it's hard to imagine any team vying for his services once he's out of Brooklyn.

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