The Nets are certainly the most unpredictable team in the league right now as anything can really happen with them. Remember that one season ago, the Nets were the preseason favorites to win it all! Then, all fell apart: Kyrie Irving missed 53 games because he wasn’t vaccinated, James Harden forced his way out, Joe Harris spent most of last season injured and Ben Simmons was the trade piece of the Harden trade to the Sixers but he played zero minutes for the team last season.
During this offseason, Kyrie wanted out when the Nets rejected giving him a new contract. Then, Kevin Durant asked for a trade and later demanded that the GM Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash be fired to no avail. Somehow, Kyrie, Durant, Marks and Nash all remained with the organization but the Nets definitely still seem to have some chemistry issues.
2022/23 Outlook:
Chemistry will indeed be the X factor for this team this season, assuming all their key players remain in Brooklyn and are healthy. The most curious aspect about this team is that their current roster has big upside and they could make some real impact in the league if everything goes well for them.
Ben Simmons is “back” and his versatility can make a nice impact on both ends. He won’t need to score points as the Nets are loaded with good shooters, so his role will be more to set up the shooters – the kind of role he had when he was at his best in Philadelphia.
The team’s biggest on-court concern will be on defense. Nic Claxton will be the team’s Center and while he is decent in some areas, he struggles in others. Note that the Nets were the worst defensive rebounding team in the league last season.
Joe Harris, Seth Curry and Pat Mills are all terrific outside shooters and if we add them to Kyrie and Durant, Brooklyn has everything to be one of the best 3pts teams in the league. However, their defense may struggle with all these players on court. That’s where Simmons needs to make a huge impact for the Nets to be competitive. Durant has already shown in the past that he can also be a good defensive player, but he is 34 years old and has been a bit injury prone lately…