As we round out our Atlantic Division previews on the cusp of a new NBA season, we conclude in Brooklyn with the most difficult team to predict in the Nets. A dramatic offseason has put them in a weird spot, despite having enough talent to challenge for an NBA Championship. That said, I am predicting they finish with under 51.5 wins during the regular season.
Heading into last season, the NBA.com GM Survey overwhelmingly chose the Brooklyn Nets as the favorites to win it all, to the tune of 72%. This year, they didn’t even garner 10% of that vote and are not even in the top five, despite the fact that their roster doesn’t really look all that different.
They concluded the 2021-22 regular season with 44 wins and were swept out of the first round, which led to one of the most tumultuous summers we’ve seen in some time. Where do we even start? Kyrie Irving played in 29 games last season while dealing with vaccination protocols, and was left with a $37 million player option that he exercised. Roughly a week after he opted in, Kevin Durant decided he wanted out, if head coach Steve Nash and General Manager Sean Marks remained in control that is.
Weeks went by, neither Nash nor Marks were fired and Kevin Durant wasn’t traded. Training camp opened; Marks was in control, Nash was coaching, and Kevin Durant was running drills. Thus, the Brooklyn Nets begin the 2022-23 season with much the same squad that was bounced by Boston in four straight.
This will be an interesting year for Brooklyn. Since Durant joined the team, they have made the playoffs all three times, swept in the first round on two of those occasions. Granted, the first season was without KD as he recovered from his Achilles tear. James Harden was acquired for five future first-round picks and subsequently sent out of town for Ben Simmons who hasn’t played in an NBA game since the 2021 playoffs. They experimented with Blake Griffin but he wasn’t a good fit. They chose DeAndre Jordan over Jarrett Allen who was included in the Harden deal. All of these decisions have left Brooklyn seemingly directionless, but then you look at their roster and see one of the best players on the planet in Durant, and an all-star point guard in Irving with plenty to prove. Realistically, this team could be an absolute dumpster fire, or a team that makes a couple trades along the way and ends up in the NBA Finals on the backs of KD and Kyrie.
That’s really what this season comes down to. They have some depth pieces in Joe Harris, Patty Mills, and Seth Curry who are excellent outside shooters. Royce O’Neale is a solid wing defender and is also a very capable shooter. Center Nic Claxton is a 23-year-old project who has shown to be a capable defender and vertical spacer. But who are we kidding? As Durant, Irving, and Simmons go, the Brooklyn Nets will go. Finals or disaster? Truthfully, it’s likely it’s somewhere in the middle but I predict it will be under the 51.5 wins available at Bet365.
Bet: Brooklyn Nets Under 51.5 Wins (-120) at Bet365. 1.2 units