How do you start Ben Simmons with another non-shooter?

No matter how much they’ve all tried to talk their way around it, that’s been the elephant in the room, the question that’s plagued every coach Simmons has had in the NBA, from Brett Brown and Doc Rivers in Philadelphia to Steve Nash and Jacque Vaughn in Brooklyn.

Now it’s hanging over Jordi Fernandez.

Nobody at HSS Training Center is deluding themselves as to the big picture. The tank was on the minute the Nets traded Mikal Bridges to their archrivals and reacquired their first-round draft picks in the next two offseasons. And dealing away Dennis Schröder last weekend just accelerated the process.