There are wild cards, and then there are the 2022-23 Brooklyn Nets.
No team had a more dysfunctional offseason than Brooklyn, whose star player, Kevin Durant, reportedly gave the Nets an ultimatum to either trade him or fire head coach Steve Nash and Sean Marks. Nets owner Joe Tsai did neither, forcing Durant to run it back with a mercurial point guard who reportedly also sought a trade this offseason (Kyrie Irving) and the enigma that is Ben Simmons, who hasn't played a meaningful basketball game in 16 months.
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You could argue the Nets are a title contender if Durant, Irving and Simmons stay healthy and engaged. You could also argue they're a powder keg waiting to blow and would be lucky to make the postseason after finishing as the No. 7 seed in 2022 and getting swept out of the first round by the Boston Celtics.
So, how seriously should the Celtics take the Nets as Eastern Conference contenders? Let's break down the most confounding team in basketball.
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Editor's Note: Can the Celtics repeat as East champions? Throughout this week, we're examining the five East teams that have the best chance of reaching the 2023 NBA Finals. Today's team: The Brooklyn Nets.
Nets' 2021-22 results
- 44-38 record
- Seventh in Eastern Conference
- Lost in first round to Boston Celtics (four games)
Nets' 2022-23 NBA title odds (via PointsBet)
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15/2 (fifth overall, third in East)
Notable offseason acquisitions, departures
Acquisitions: T.J. Warren, Royce O'Neale, Markieff Morris, Chris Chiozza
Departures: Bruce Brown, LaMarcus Aldridge, Blake Griffin, Goran Dragic
Projected starting five (2021-22 stats)
- PG: Kyrie Irving (27.4 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 5.8 apg, 46.9% FG, 41.8% 3PT) (27 games)
- SG: Joe Harris (11.3 ppg, 4.0 rpg, 1.0 apg, 45.2% FG, 46.6% 3PT) (14 games)
- SF: Kevin Durant (29.9 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 6.4 apg, 51.8% FG, 38.3% 3PT) (55 games)
- PF: Ben Simmons (14.3 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 6.9 apg, 49.2% FG, 55.7% 3PT)*
- C: Nic Claxton (8.7 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 0.9 apg, 67.4% FG) (47 games)
*2020-21 stats (didn't play in 2021-22)
Matchups with Celtics in 2022-23
- Dec. 4: Celtics at Nets
- Jan. 12, 2023: Celtics at Nets
- Feb. 1, 2023: Nets at Celtics
- March 3, 2023: Nets at Celtics
How likely are Nets to finish ahead of C's in East?
As much as it wouldn't surprise us to see the Nets combust, it also wouldn't surprise us if they were a top-three seed.
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If healthy and effective, Simmons gives Brooklyn a defensive dimension it sorely lacked last season. The sharpshooting duo of Joe Harris and Seth Curry should prevent teams from loading up on Irving and Durant, and T.J. Warren can be a microwave scorer off the bench. There's a best-case scenario in which they win 50-plus games.
But this team simply can't be trusted. Durant is the only returning starter who played more than 55 games in 2021-22, and he still missed a third of the season. Even assuming relative good health, the Nets likely will manage the minutes of their Big Three to ensure they're intact for the postseason.
This team simply isn't deep enough to win games consistently without its full roster. We're projecting Brooklyn somewhere in the fourth-to-eighth-seed range, with Boston earning a top-three seed.
Who wins in a playoff series: Boston or Brooklyn?
The Nets finally have two legitimate defenders -- Simmons and Royce O'Neale -- to throw at Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown, and the postseason pedigrees of Durant and Irving are well-documented. We all saw what happened in late April, though; the Celtics' ferocious defense wore Durant down, while Irving appeared checked out after Brooklyn's buzzer-beating loss in Game 1.
We'll give the Nets a couple games assuming a healthy Simmons, a motivated Durant and some strong outside shooting from Harris and Curry. Boston's elite depth and experience gives it a clear edge, though.
Prediction: Celtics in six