Kevin Durant is staying in Brooklyn, as the Nets released a statement today that both parties met and the marriage will continue for at least one more season. So now that this whole drama is over with (for now), how do the Nets stack up in the East, how good is this roster, and can they win a championship?
Let’s start with the roster construction. It has improved; Ben Simmons, Royce O’Neale, and T.J. Warren will help the perimeter defense, Joe Harris will return, and young players Cam Thomas and Day'Ron Sharpe should take strides. So this roster has improved but by how much? Let’s say that the Nets decide on a starting 5 of Kyrie Irving, Royce O’Neale, Joe Harris, Kevin Durant, and Ben Simmons. Is that team a real threat in the East? They are small, kind of slow, and lack a real big man. The depth is okay, Seth Curry, Patty Mills, T.J, Warren, Nic Claxton, and others provide a solid bench but there is a lack of 2 way players on this roster. What about this roster makes you say that they can compete with either Boston, who just swept them, or Milwaukee? Yes, Durant and Irving are incredible but this team has been gutted over the past few years and needs big years from guys who have either been out for a couple of years or have struggled the past few years. They need some kind of center who can help protect the rim, they have a bunch of guys who are one way players. I think the Simmons fit is good, but I would like to see him play an actual basketball game, Durant and Irving played in the Boston series last season, and the additions are not massive needle movers. I think the Nets will be better than last season, depending on health, but I am not sold that they can compete with the top of the Eastern Conference.
How do the Nets stack up in the East is the million dollar question because frankly I do not know. This team absolutely has the talent to win the East but I wouldn’t bet on it. Can Kevin Durant stay healthy enough? Will Kyrie or Ben Simmons play in enough games? I think they are better than teams like the Raptors, the Bulls, the Hawks, and the Cavs but can they compete with the Celtics or Bucks, I tend to think no. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown are so good and only improving and the Celtics are running back what was one of the greatest defenses ever. Meanwhile, the Bucks get back Khris Middleton to add to Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jrue Holiday on a team that might have won the championship had Middleton not gotten hurt last season. I would put Brooklyn in a tier with the 76ers and the Heat. A really good basketball team that will need a few breaks to compete with the elites in the East. Miami lost P.J. Tucker and looked like an offensive mess in the Eastern Conference Finals against Boston and Philadelphia, is betting on a James Harden and Tobais Harris bounce back to go with a Tyrese Maxey leap so they have enough help for Joel Embiid. I think the Nets are better than the Heat, Durant is better than anyone Miami has and the guys behind Durant and Jimmy Butler are relatively even. Both the Nets and Sixers scare me and frankly I want nothing to do with betting on either team to figure it out and make a real title run. Do I think the Nets can win the championship, yes, would I bet on it, no.
Let’s say this Nets season does not go the way they hope it does and it ends in another disappointing early postseason exit. What is preventing us from being in the exact same position next summer? Kyrie will be a free agent and likely headed out the door thus Durant will look around and say get me out of here putting the Nets and the rest of the league in the same position as this past summer. As a result of this, there will be a lot of pressure on the Nets to be good next season because if not, the changes they have seemingly avoided this summer could be coming next summer.
On June 30th it looked like the NBA world had a major landscape change coming when Kevin Durant requested a trade, 2 months later, there was no trade and Durant will return to Brooklyn. As a result, the Nets will run it back and hope for a different outcome than last season. The question is how successful can they be?
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