Some questions Nash and Marks should have to answer today

Nets GM Sean Marks and coach Steve Nash will address the media today, marking the first time Nash has spoken since the Celtics swept the Nets out of the first round in April. Marks hasn’t spoken to reporters since shortly after the team acquired Ben Simmons at the Feb. 10 trade deadline.

The Nets are entering Year 4 of the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving era, but have just one playoff series victory to two early, disappointing exits during that time. Durant called this summer a “very, very important offseason,” and they’ll have to answer a number of questions entering the most pivotal summer in franchise history.

l HOW DOES THE FASHION IN WHICH THE NETS LOST INFLUENCE THEIR OFFSEASON?: The Nets didn’t just lose. Hell, they didn’t just get swept. They got bullied – and it was the worst possible way to lose for a team with two all-world scorers.

The first round was a nightmare: Durant and Irving were mere mortals and succumbed to the pressure, physicality and continuity of the Celtics’ defense.

Boston is only a pit stop on the road to a championship, provided the franchise still remains steadfast in its belief such a goal is attainable. In the East, the championship road also goes through Philadelphia, Miami and Milwaukee. Those teams have the edge in size and strength.

Quite frankly, the Nets need to get bigger, and it should be a clear priority for the front office this summer. Not just bigger in terms of adding size at center, but adding size on the wings, as well.

It’s also quite clear the team needs a true point guard. Durant and Irving are better off with someone else generating looks for them instead of having to work for every shot. Also, is Ben Simmons your point guard or your point forward?

Durant, Irving and Simmons headline a roster that also includes guaranteed deals with Joe Harris, Seth Curry and rookies Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe. Patty Mills has a player option, and both Bruce Brown and Nic Claxton are restricted free agents.

l HOW MUCH WILL THE LUXURY TAX DICTATE OFFSEASON MOVES?: If money isn’t anything but a number, the Nets could put together a formidable roster on top of the stars they already have. The Nets are now repeat tax offenders, which means new contracts after Irving’s looming extension will begin costing an additional $4 for every dollar spent on a new player’s contract.

The Nets have to make decisions on both Claxton and Brown, who each could

command upwards of $8M a year. They also have three trade exceptions worth $11.6, $6.3 and $3.3M, and the mid-level exception worth $6M.

Those are all available to add to the roster if Joe Tsai is willing to pay the tax.

That tax could be the difference between a roster loaded with championship-caliber role players, or a bare bones roster built around star power and minimum contracts.

l ARE YOU GOING TO RUN EXOTIC OFFENSIVE SETS?: The grand question awaiting Nash, whose offense at times more closely resembled games of pick-up at the park than an organized, professional basketball game.

With Durant and Irving, it’s easy to fall into the pick-up trap. They are two of the most dominant isolation scorers in history. Some of this team’s best offense has come from Durant and Irving bending a defense beyond the breaking point.

But how much isolation is too much isolation? And, more importantly, at what point does it become predictable?

“I know their game,” said Ime Udoka, an assistant on Nash’s staff before he took the Celtics job. “It’s not about their sets, offensively. It’s about who (Durant and Irving) are. They’re not running anything complicated. It’s get them the ball and let them do what they do.”

The Nets have significant room to grow in their offensive creativity. Nash likely wants to go down that road. It’s just hard to build a complex offense when you start the season with 10 new players, lose 13 players at one time to the health and safety protocol, lose Durant for a month and a half to an MCL sprain, and deal with a James Harden trade, all while Irving is in and out of the rotation because of his vaccination status.

l WHAT EXACTLY HAPPENED WITH BEN SIMMONS?: There’s not a whole lot of trust among fans, media and the Nets front office when it comes to Simmons. He never played a game the second half of the season, and the Nets strung his status along until the very end, when they ruled him out for the fourth and final game of their playoffs after he ramped up to playing with contact.

That’s an issue because the Nets traded Harden in exchange for Simmons, who had a history of back issues in Philadelphia and ultimately needed surgery this offseason. It’s a bad look if the Nets already knew he had significant back problems before trading Harden, and it’s an even worse look if they didn’t do their due diligence in the first place.

Trading Harden reduced any chance the Nets had at winning a championship