Disclaimer: I actually wrote this article a couple of days ago - prior to the Nets getting their asses bust last night - but just got around to publishing it today.
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...well maybe not garbage per se, but they damn sure ain't contenders. In fact saying that they are is sort of like a slap to the face of the better-structured teams of the NBA, unless you're one of those individuals who believes that clutch offense can take a squad all the way to the promised land.
I visit NBA sites on the regular but in a way have lost confidence in their ability to accurately analyze certain matters. And this is because they tend to adhere to and in some cases even define the mainstream narrative, even if said narrative doesn't really make sense. For instance, of course it would be politically correct or whatever to say that the Nets are contenders without Kyrie Irving. But more unbiased logic dictates that such simply isn't true.
Said logic would be based on the Nets' less-than-inspiring performance in last season's playoffs. This is a team that is home to three players who are considered to be amongst the top 10 in the NBA. And for the sake of this argument, that reality means two things in more practical terms. First is that the more popular players are usually more offense-oriented than they are focused on defense. That's not true in every case, but it is as far as the Net's Big 3 are concerned. And second is that superstars are paid so much money that there is little left over to invest in quality role players. So unless some young, slept-on player(s) proves to be exceptionally good or if some quality vets opt to sign contracts below their market value - neither of which necessarily seems to be the case with the Nets - then it's like the Big 3 better really, really perform big.
Well actually the Nets did land Patty Mills, who is an exceptionally-good, underrated vet. Part of the reason for the team's underwhelming performance last season was the fact that their best player outside of Big 3, Spencer Dinwiddie, was injured all year. I would personally argue that Patty Mills is just as good, if not better, than Dinwiddie. But it's not like the Nets' roster, outside of its superstars, is currently intimidating anybody.
Oh yeah - I almost forgot that LaMarcus Aldridge is back also. He is another player who is known to be outstanding offensively but not a defensive threat. Either way, the Nets should be better with him on the court. Hopefully this time around he can stay on throughout, which isn't anything to be taken for granted. But even if he does, the biggest deficiency in the Nets' makeup has been and remains lack of an interior defensive presence. And Aldridge isn't likely to solve that problem, whether he's healthy or not. Maybe he should've just returned to the Blazers, like he was supposed to do or whatever. But one thing I will say is that if LaMarcus had participated in last season's playoffs, I'm pretty sure the Nets could've managed to beat the Bucks even without Irving and with a hobbled Harden. And also, don't forget that he and Patty Mills already have some success together during their mutual run on the Spurs, with the team going to Playoffs featuring the both of them from 2015-16 to 2018-19.
CONCLUSION
But let's just keep it real - unless both the Beard and KD are healthy, the Nets look very much beatable. Or at best their roster, being devoid of one of those players and Irving, is slightly-above average compared to the rest of the league. And at the true heart of the problem is the fact that it's pretty much a given that Harden and especially KD will go down at some point(s) during the season. In fact I always believed that one of the reasons the Nets signed all three of them in the first place is because in this day and age you can't really rely on the health of NBA players, especially superstars. So yes, if even 2 of the Big 3 are healthy the Nets can theoretically be considered contenders. But as they currently stand, without Kyrie, then these dudes better have an extraordinary season from a health standpoint, and/or some of the players on the roster really need to overachieve.
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