On paper, the Brooklyn Nets have one of the most talented rosters in the NBA. With Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, Ben Simmons, Joe Harris, Seth Curry, and others, the Nets have the means to compete against any team in the league.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t come together very well this season, and the product we’ve seen on the floor has not come close to matching early-season expectations.
In a debate with Stephen A. Smith on First Take, former NBA big man Kendrick Perkins took his turn bashing the disappointing Nets and called them soft in every sense of the word.
“The Brooklyn Nets should be named the Brooklyn Hostess Cupcakes because they’re creamy and they’re soft in the middle. When you think about what they have done thus far, defensively. Time and time again I come on here and I try to tell Stephen A., who is always preaching about the offense. Offense is not gonna get it done if you’re not gonna go on the other end and defend. Think about their last three games. Ja Morant and Desmond Bane both had 38 points apiece. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving had 37 — and they lost. And then you go down to Milwaukee, Giannis punished them in the paint. 41 points, I believe it was, half was in the paint. And then last night, Luka just had his way.”
"The Brooklyn Nets should be named the Brooklyn Hostess Cupcakes because they're creamy and they're soft in the middle."
😠@KendrickPerkins pic.twitter.com/I3igG2htq2
— First Take (@FirstTake) October 28, 2022
The Nets Have Been The Worst Defensive Team In The NBA This Season
Offensively, the Nets are stacked and are capable of outscoring anyone. But the Nets have also been the worst defensive team this season, and not even the combined powers of Durant and Irving have been enough to offset their shortcomings on that end of the floor.
“The Nets have some high-end talent. I look at this team and it reminds me a lot of the conversation we’ve had about the Lakers,” said Tim Bontemps on the Nets. “This team in general reminds me a lot of the Dwight-Kobe Laker team. Obviously getting Joe Harris and Seth Curry back will help but … you can’t look at this team and tell me that there’s a logical way they’re going to have a decent defense without any size without any permanent athleticism on the team. Without any permanent athleticism on the team unless they can turn Joe Harris’s Joe Harris’s contract into another player or they can make some other kind of move or they don’t have draft picks and they don’t have young players to trade I just don’t see how they fix that and it’s hard to see where this goes from here.”
The jury is still out on the Nets and what kind of season they are going to have. With so much talent, they could finish strong.
But unless the team re-considers their approach defensively, they will never truly maximize their potential.
