After a disappointing first round exit to the Toronto Raptors in the NBA Playoffs (Bubble), the Nets now seek dominance and greatness in the East. This time they have a fully healthy Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. They kept all of their players from last year, besides Garrett Temple. They added a few players, Landry Shamet and Bruce Brown were the two main acquisitions. Offensively this team is jacked and will average a great amount of points, however on the defense this team is shaky. They have nice defensive pieces BUT they still lack great defensive play. I personally think those that say this team is a second-round exit, don’t know what they speak of. Or they simply forgot how GREAT Kevin Durant is. Before his horrific injury (Achillies), he was a yearly All-Star, All-NBA, and MVP candidate type of player. So, people better start remembering who KD is before he drops 50 per game and reminds you all. Now, I understand people thinking they may lose in the Finals or in the ECF because they are new, but second or first round exit is a REACH! Now let’s dig into the specifics:
Lineups:
Now, we clearly know who 2/5 starters are going to be, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. However, we don’t exactly know who the other 3 are going to be. Will they choose Jordan over Allen at the 5? Will Dinwiddie start over LeVert? Will Green start? Harris? These are questions that Coach Nash will have to answer. At the end of the day, as long as the two marquee players and main attractions are on the lineup and healthy we should have nothing to fear. I would likely put Green at the 4 and allow KD to his normal position (the 4, Small Forward). I think Allen should take second-team reps, and Green could be a catch and shoot type of guy. Here are my starters for the Nets:
PG- Kyrie Irving
SG: Spencer Dinwiddie
SF- Kevin Durant
PF- Jeff Green
C- DeAndre Jordan
Coaching Staff:
Personally, I have mixed reviews on this coaching staff. It was very questionable to hire Steve Nash as the HC and it confuses me. However, they’ve surrounded him with VERY skillful assistant coaches. I love the D’Antoni (Offense) and Udoka hire. I don’t have an opinion on the Stoudemire, because I don’t think they’ll give him a huge role. I like that they kept Jacque Vaughn (Defense), it was a very good idea. I think Nash has earned his players respect because Kyrie took back his comments on not needing a HC. We will just have to wait to see if Coach Nash could indeed Coach and lead this team to the championship.
Chemistry and Health:
These two factors will decide what type of year it will be for the Nets. If they play like teammates and Kyrie doesn’t lose it, the Nets will hoist the Larry O’Brien Award (NBA Championship). Everybody needs to be on the same page and KD has to make it ABUNDANTLY clear to Kyrie that, we are here to win. Not to joke around. With health, it is a bigger emergency. If KD were to get injured it WILL stop the teams motivation and it will cause Kyrie to get “injured” we saw this occur last year. The Nets were struggling and Kyrie got “injured” because there was no KD, which is completely fine because everyone knew we were a 2020-21 team. The season will now start soon, expectations are high. #WeGoHard
Predictions:
– I think they will beat out the Bucks and Heat for the 1st Seed in the Eastern Conference.
– Record: 52 W, 20 L
– Playoffs:
Least: Goes to ECF
Most: NBA Champions
Thanks for reading everybody. This has been Jose Calderon III with FiveBoroughDispatch, have a great day; everybody!
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