Just a couple of weeks back, the Nets were faced with a very uncertain future. Kevin Durant looked hellbent on getting out of town and there were rumors that he could cause problems behind the scenes in an attempt to force his way out. This was, of course, going on side by side with the entire Kyrie Irving situation, but things finally settled down a bit earlier this week, with Durant deciding to stay with the team.
That development meant that the Nets are suddenly back among the favorites for the title as they do boast a formidable squad on paper. To go with their two superstars, the Nets have Ben Simmons returning from injury and they also added some solid role players in T. J. Warren and Royce O’Neale. They look primed to make amends for that stunning sweep at the hands of the Celtics in this past postseason and make a serious run at the title, but Nic Claxton stated that talent alone isn’t enough for them to win it all.
via New York Post:
“On paper, we definitely have some of the best talent in the league, but as we’ve seen in the past, it takes more than that,” Nets center Nic Claxton warned this week. “So we’ve just got to come together and just all work towards the same goal, which is winning the championship.”
He is spot on here, as all the drama has really held back the Nets since Durant and Irving arrived. We have seen Kyrie question whether the team really needs a coach, which undermined Steve Nash and Irving’s refusal to take the vaccine just made things all the more chaotic. He has also been causing issues behind the scenes and all of that explains why the Nets, for all the talent, have only one series win in the postseason to their name in this era that promised so much.
If they can finally put all these distractions behind them and work together towards winning a championship, then they might well end up going all the way, but we need to see it to believe it. Kyrie hasn’t given any indication that he is going to change his way of doing things and the only reason Durant is sticking around is because he had no leverage with 4 years left on his contract. You can really only see two extremes with the Nets this upcoming season, which is that they’ll either finally fulfill their potential or they’ll crash and burn as we saw last season.
