Years of losing—being looked at as a laughingstock, a charity case, an afterthought—all came down to June 30. All the culture building, the thoughtful planning carried out by general manager Sean Marks and head coach Kenny Atkinson, every trade and minute roster decision carefully calculated, all paid off when free agency began at 6 p.m. on a sticky, humid summer Sunday in New York.
Kevin Durant (four years, $164 million) and Kyrie Irving (four years, $141 million) announced that they had committed to be Brooklyn Nets. After being considered the fun, plucky underdogs who did things the right way, the Nets saw all of that change on June 30, even though Durant is expected to miss the entire 2019-2020 season as he rehabs and recovers from his famously fateful torn Achilles in the Finals. Marks and Brooklyn grabbed the NBA’s attention by the scruff of its collective neck and said, “We’re for real; it’s time to take us seriously as a long-term power.”
It wasn’t some draft-pick-forfeiting gamble on the future. For the first time in franchise history, not one but two superstar players chose Brooklyn, not Manhattan, as the place to spend four years of their prime. It was the dawn of a new era for the Nets, one that will bring a lot of exciting prospects, with all the expectations and responsibilities that come along with it for new majority shareholder Joe Tsai.
Which teams look like contenders, and which look like pretenders? Check out Forbes’ full NBA season preview, with best-case scenarios and worst-case scenarios for all 30 teams.
What’s New
A whole hell of a lot. Not only are Durant and Irving in the fold, but they took less money to enable the Nets to bring veteran big man DeAndre Jordan in the fold as well. How Atkinson splits Jordan’s minutes with young center Jarrett Allen this season will be a season-long storyline.
Usually a team that signs superstars also attracts quality reserves, and the Nets accomplished that by signing point guard Garrett Temple, forward Wilson Chandler (though he’ll be suspended the first 25 games of the season for PEDs) and guard David Nwaba. Forward Taurean Prince, 25, is expected to play a prominent role in Brooklyn’s rotation after coming over in a June trade that sent Allen Crabbe’s contract and at least one first round pick to Atlanta. After punting on the first round of the NBA Draft, Brooklyn took Georgia center Nic Claxton with the first pick of the second round to learn behind Jordan and Allen.
Best Addition: In the short term it’s Irving, who gives Brooklyn an active top tier player it hasn’t had since the Jason Kidd and Vince Carter days. In the long term, the Nets hope it’s Durant, assuming he still has talent post injury that’s made him one of the top 30-40 player of all time.
Biggest Loss: D’Angelo Russell put this Brooklyn team on his back and led it to the playoffs, becoming the Nets’ first All-Star since Joe Johnson in 2013-14. It’s certainly a little bittersweet that he’ll be earning his max contract with the Golden State Warriors as part of a sign-and-trade deal for Durant, necessary for the franchise to take the next step.
What’s Coming
Three huge elements that haven’t been part of the Nets in quite some time: Expectations, pressure and attention. Durant’s injury certainly lessens the expectations for this season, but Irving’s addition means that Brooklyn needs to make the playoffs this season and at least fight for home court in the first round.
Expectations, of course, come with pressure. Pressure on Irving to get along with his teammates, which he didn’t do in Boston. Pressure on Caris LeVert to stay healthy and gel with Irving. Pressure on Joe Harris and Spencer Dinwiddie to build off of career years. Pressure on Kenny Atkinson to continue to get the most out of his players and lead them to their next logical leap. And of course when you sign Durant and Irving, attention, headlines and nationally televised games will be in order for once-forgotten Brooklyn. The buzz surrounding the Nets is back.
Team MVP: Irving. Despite all the criticism he faced with the Celtics last season, Kyrie still averaged nearly 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds per game on 48.7% shooting from the field and over 40% from three. It’s been a long time since the Nets had a do-it-all superstar like that.
Best Value: Allen. Just 21 years old, the ’fro-rocking, shot-blocking big man will make just $2.37 million as part of his rookie contract. He averaged nearly 11 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in 26.2 minutes per game. Allen should be getting more minutes and more opportunity to develop despite the Jordan signing.
X-Factor: LeVert. If you recall, LeVert was the one people expected to be the Nets’ next All-Star going into last season before he got hurt, playing just 40 games. But he averaged 21 points per game in Brooklyn’s first round loss to Philadelphia and received a three-year, $52.5 million extension in August. If he can score more than 20 per game this season, that takes a lot of the scoring burden off of Irving.
Best-Case Scenario
Durant is medically cleared in March or April and the Nets stay healthy and make a deep postseason run, perhaps even challenging Milwaukee or Philadelphia for a Finals appearance. Take this with a grain of salt.
Worst-Case Scenario
Irving and LeVert get hurt and the Nets are unable to deal with the mounting pressure and miss the playoffs, leading to speculation that ownership is thinking about putting Atkinson on the hot seat going into 2020-2021. Again, take this with a grain of salt.
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