Guards key to Nets offseason
The point guard position has been at the center of attention for the Nets over the years, a roller coaster that’s fluctuated from electrifying to absent to overpaid to injured. As this disappointing season winds down, GM Sean Marks has to focus on getting it right for next season.
That means Dennis Schroder and Ben Simmons. Schroder told The Post he wants to remain a Net, while everything indicates Simmons might be here as well.
Simmons was supposed to be the starter coming out of training camp, but he made just 15 high-priced appearances before being shut down with a nerve impingement in his back. And though he’s been medically cleared following surgery, the fact is he’s missed enough time to be a perpetual question mark.
Meanwhile, Schroder has stepped into the breach and instantly taken on a leadership role. After arriving at the trade deadline, the Nets not just welcomed him but have willingly followed him. And the 30-year-old said before Wednesday’s 106-102 victory over the Raptors that he hopes and plans to be the point guard in Brooklyn again next season.
“Of course. I always want to be stationed somewhere where people show me appreciation,” Schroder told The Post. “And I felt that from the first day — people reaching out to my family, to my wife, to my mom. That shows, OK, they really [want me]. And the playing style, as well, I like. They trust me, in what I am capable of. And of course I want to stay.
“I know the business side of it as well. So, I’m not taking anything emotional or personal. I know how it is. But at the end of the day, of course I want to stay here. I met Joe [Tsai], the owner, his wife, his kid. And of course I want to build something special here. Everything they say, I’m preaching the same thing. And I’m the same player that they’re looking for, and it would be great to stay, for sure.”
It’s the business side — as well as the medical one — that could be deciding factors.
Schroder has an attractive contract, a $13 million expiring deal, which makes him imminently trade-able should Brooklyn feel inclined over the summer.
Though Schroder entered Wednesday off a four-point, 1 of 12 shooting effort in Sunday’s loss to Sacramento, he averaged 17.7 points on solid 4.69 percent shooting — 44.4 from deep — in a prior seven-game span that saw five wins.
“He was a leader right when he got in,” interim coach Kevin Ollie said. “He brings a championship mentality. … He just has a natural ability to lead, ability to win. You know winners when you see them. They hold everybody accountable, but they make themselves full of accountability, too. That’s what he did first and foremost.”
Schroder finished with 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds in the Nets’ home finale on Wednesday.
Simmons has been an invisible man — playing just 57 of 192 regular-season games for the Nets, and none of their eight playoff tilts — but an expensive one. He made $37.9 million this season and is on the books for $40.3 million next season.
There are no indications the Nets will seek a buyout — actually the opposite, appearing to be moving forward expecting Simmons to be part of the team next season. After a successful surgery, he should be fine for summer workouts and pickup games. But in what will be a contract year next season, he’ll surely expect to play, not ride the bench.
Simmons’ salary is a natural match for Donovan Mitchell, if the Cavaliers move him in the summer or at next year’s trade deadline. Making the right call at that point guard spot is a huge part of the offseason for Brooklyn and Marks.