Kevin Ollie of the Nets must make tough lineup choices now that he is the head coach.

Following Jacque Vaughn’s firing, Kevin Ollie will take over as head coach of the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night against the Toronto Raptors. The former UConn head coach will try to spearhead a postseason push during the next 28 games of the regular season, after an 8-23 run that has pushed the Nets to 11th in the Eastern Conference.

Ollie benefits from having the second-easiest remaining strength of schedule in the NBA with the Nets. They also have a solid roster and, for the first time this season, a clean sheet of health following the trade deadline and All-Star break.

In the weeks preceding the break, Ben Simmons, Cam Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith, Lonnie Walker, and Day’Ron Sharpe were all cleared of injury. Dennis Schroder, who was acquired by Brooklyn in exchange for Spencer Dinwiddie from the Toronto Raptors, was also welcomed. Ollie will have to make a number of tough lineup choices with the Nets at full strength, something Vaughn was ready for before to his firing.

Regarding the rotation, Vaughn predicted that it would be like a Rubix cube. “I have 240 minutes left. There are only so many minutes to go around, so you just go down the list. Our team needs to realize that during these 30 games, we’re going to attempt to field anybody we think will be able to assist us win. And on some occasions, it will be your night.

“I really hope it stays like way. You’re going to check in at this point in the game, these minutes, this time of week—I know every player enjoys it. It is not going to occur. Our goal is to win games. However, I want them all to return healthy, and after that, we’ll decide how those minutes will be spent.

Is it time for Ben Simmons and Nic Claxton to part ways?

Selecting a starting lineup will be Ollie’s first move. In the week before the break, Vaughn ran with a starting lineup that included Simmons, Cam Thomas, Mikal Bridges, Finney-Smith, and Nic Claxton. Johnson’s return means that Finney-Smith is most likely to shift to the bench, giving up rebounding and defense in favor of three-point shooting between Simmons and Claxton.

Still, there are issues with Simmons and Claxton’s fit in the starting lineup as non-shooters. Together, the pair’s net rating in 70 minutes this season is -23.8. With an offensive rating of 100.0, they are over eight points better than the league-worst offense (1077.7) of the Memphis Grizzlies.

When employing the tandem, Brooklyn is forced to adopt a whole different offensive strategy, with one or both players constantly jamming the paint.

With Simmons’ inability to stay on the court for prolonged amounts of time, the offense’s constantly shifting style has put strain on the squad.

Mikal Bridges remarked after Brooklyn’s 50-point loss in Boston on Wednesday, “It’s tough offensively because a guy like Ben [Simmons], who plays and is [now] not here, it’s a different dynamic when he has it.” Simmons sat. Even with Ben, our offense isn’t really strong; we play off of him, he grabs the ball, and players come back up to let him to dribble and dish off. However, since he isn’t here, we are unable to play like that at this time.

Due to a nerve impingement in his surgically repaired back, which kept him out of action for the second half of the previous season, Simmons has only played in 12 games this year. Bridges claimed that as a result, the Nets require two different offensive game plans: one with Simmons and one without.

As coaches, we must arrive prepared, know what we’re doing, and work as a team to develop a strategy. It can’t be the same for every individual. Since each person is unique, it can’t be the same,” he remarked. It’s not the same with Ben out there. Because of how opponents guard him, he could dribble and stop. However, with [Nic] Claxton playing, we now have four guards on the court, and the game is different.Thus, simply being able to play that style and adapt accordingly.

Ollie may stick to Vaughn’s strategy of starting Simmons and Claxton and then dividing them apart for long amounts of time. The best match, though, is to use Simmons as a change-of-pace option with the second unit, where he can play big in the halfcourt and point guard in transition.

However, Simmons’ requirement to play without a conventional big man raises further concerns, especially for Day’Ron Sharpe, the backup center.

Before suffering a knee injury that kept him out of action for more than a month, Sharpe was one of the Nets’ most pleasant surprises early in the season. Having established a rotation role for the first time in his career, the 2021 first-round selection has averaged career-highs of 7.4 points, 6.8 rebounds, and 0.8 blocks in 15.7 minutes per game. Sharpe leads the Nets and is in the 91st percentile among NBA centers with a 9.6 net rating swing (points scored per 100 possessions minus points allowed per 100 possessions), according to CleaningTheGlass.

However, Brooklyn’s lackluster performance when Simmons is paired with conventional centers raises the question: Will Sharpe ever see action in the rotation?

Kevin Ollie has more concerns about the bench. Half of the season was spent with Jacque Vaughn running a nine-man rotation on a regular basis. Sharpe, Finney-Smith, Schroder, and Walker have all earned a berth in the rotation aside from the anticipated starters.

Dennis Smith Jr. and rookie Jalen Wilson will now face off for the tenth and final berth. Each has presented strong arguments for playing time. Smith has been Brooklyn’s finest point-of-attack defender and a reliable source of transition rim pressure. But in a rotation with Simmons, Claxton, and Sharpe, his poor three-point shooting (27.4 percent on 1.9 tries per game) is a concern.

Wilson, the 51st choice overall in this year’s draft, has demonstrated the versatile style of play that he showed off during his four years at Kansas. The Big-12 Player of 2023the Year is playing strong defense and hitting 52.4 percent from three (11-of-21). Along with his scoring contributions, he has led the club in offensive rebounds, averaging 3.4 per 36 minutes among players who are not centers.