SAN DIEGO — Coming into Nets training camp, much of the talk has been about the point guard duel. Turns out they’ll have dual point guards, instead.
After all the questions about who’d get the nod between Dennis Schroder and Ben Simmons, both veterans will start together when Brooklyn tips off the preseason Tuesday against the Clippers.
Despite spending most of their open runs and the early stages of training camp running separate teams, head coach Jordi Fernandez had them working alongside each other in Saturday’s practice — and will opt to have them do it again Tuesday at Frontwave Arena.
“They played together. And we’re going to go into the first game of the preseason playing with two point guards,” said Fernandez. “So you guys will see that, for sure.
“It’s something that it gives us a different look right now, playing with size, but not a true big and a lot of playmaking and shooting. So it’s going to be fun. It’s going to very fun to give it a look.”
It’s something neither Jacque Vaughn nor Kevin Ollie got to look at last season. Schroder had hoped to play alongside Simmons after arriving from Toronto, but the latter’s injuries scuppered that plan.
Even in camp, they played together on the first day but were largely kept apart on separate teams — until Saturday.
“When I first got here, I played with Ben the first scrimmage,” Schroder said. “After that, we didn’t do it too much. We competed every practice against each other, and that was great just to push ourselves and try to get as many wins as possible. But coach decided that we’re going to start together, and we’re going to make the best out of it.”
The duo logged just 16 minutes together over three games last season, finishing a minus-4. They’d hoped to come back from the All-Star break better in sync, but Simmons needed season-ending back surgery.
Over the last two years, the Nets had played at a 35-win pace without Simmons and a 45-win pace with him. Finally healthy, the Nets are counting on the pair’s ability to push in transition.
“A lot of speed. He’s [fast],” Schroder said when asked what a two-point guard tandem with Simmons can look like. “I mean, he wasn’t healthy the last couple of years, but when he’s healthy, we know what he can do. He’s an All-Star-type player, so he’s going to push the ball. [He’s] unselfish.
“On the defensive end, he’s playing with grit. And that’s what we need here. So, a lot of speed. He can bring it up, I go to the corner. If not, me and him in pick-and-roll, him setting the screen or me setting the screen. I think we can do a lot of things. And today we worked on it, and we try to keep building forward, going forward, try to build. Yeah, we’re going to keep working.”
Fernandez didn’t say whether this pairing was a result of the Nets missing bodies, with Nic Claxton, Bojan Bogdanovic, Day’Ron Sharpe and Trendon Watford all out for the preseason opener.
But when asked about spacing with Simmons, he’s said before he wants to see how things work and doesn’t have to have all the answers already. These preseason games should provide him with some of those answers.
“It’s been good, man. They’re both so fast, both so electric when they play. Both looking to find guys running the floor,” said Jalen Wilson. “It’s good for me, because I want to run the floor, get to the corner, get open shots. And I’ve got two guys pushing more trying to find us.”
So far in camp, the Nets haven’t seen much of Schroder and Simmons together. That’ll change Tuesday.
“I haven’t seen it in action yet, so it’s hard for me to say [how it’ll look],” admitted Noah Clowney. “But in having both of them, they can be able to play off the ball and to be on it. It can be unique in the ways we can use that.”
