The Brooklyn Nets endured a very challenging offseason to emerge as a title contender heading into the 2022-23 NBA season. Despite the sky seemingly falling on the Nets, they still boast one of the best rosters in the entire NBA, and if everything can work out for them, they will be one of the toughest teams to beat this season.
For Brooklyn, their path to success is simple; they have two of the best players in the game on their roster in Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Add another potential superstar in Ben Simmons and a rotation that got stronger this offseason, and it’s easy to see why the Nets are feeling good about the upcoming season despite dealing with constant trade rumors all summer long.
Still, last season showed us that things could end up going wrong fast for Brooklyn, and their tense offseason has left a lot of people feeling skeptical about their odds of winning it all this season. The Nets have the talent, but it remains to be seen whether that will lead to victories this season. Let’s take a look at three reasons why the talent won’t be enough, and the Nets will end up coming up short in their quest to win the 2023 NBA Finals,
3. The Nets rotation at center is still very weak
Throughout the 2021-22 season, it became clear that the Nets weren’t really going to have any other choice but to start Nicolas Claxton at center. Claxton had upside, but he was still very raw on both sides of the court, and he got exposed far too often for a starting center throughout the course of the season for Brooklyn.
Despite that, Claxton will be heading into the season as the Nets starting center. That’s not the worst thing to happen, and Claxton could be set to improve knowing that the starting spot is his this season. The problem is they have virtually no rotation behind him currently. There were veteran options such as Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge behind Claxton last season, but they are no longer around.
Claxton’s current backup is Day’Ron Sharpe, who played sparingly last season. Sharpe wasn’t part of the Nets playoff rotation last season, but he’s going to have to be moving forward if Brooklyn wants to win the Finals this season. A center rotation of Claxton and Sharpe will not hold up in the postseason, and unless the Nets make some additions at this spot, it’s tough to see them winning the Finals with this lackluster duo.
2. The Nets are relying on Ben Simmons to excel, but he didn’t even take the court last season
The Nets saving grace amid their struggles last season was that Ben Simmons would change everything once he returned to the court. But Simmons’ struggles with his mental health and a lingering back injury prevented him from ever making his debut for the Nets, and they were eventually swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs.
Simmons has the potential to be a game changer for the Nets. He can initiate offense for Durant and Irving and keep their offense from bunching up, while also having the ability to lock up opposing wings on defense. The Nets fell to the Celtics in the playoffs largely because they had no answer for Jayson Tatum or Jaylen Brown on defense.
But Simmons didn’t play at all last season, and already proved during the playoffs last season, when he was expected to return for Game 4 before backing out, that he isn’t exactly reliable. Counting on him to make a massive impact feels like wishful thinking, and until he proves otherwise, the Nets aren’t going to get anywhere if Simmons’ is counted on to play a big role in their season.
1. There is a ton of tension throughout the Nets organization
There’s no question that the Nets are teetering on the brink of imploding. They very nearly were forced into trading Durant and Irving this offseason, but somehow avoided that outcome and held onto both of them for the upcoming season. Even though everyone says the offseason is in the past, it’s tough to forget everything that took place over the summer.
One day, Irving is doing everything in his power to force his way onto the Los Angeles Lakers. The next day, Durant goes and requests a trade. Durant even one-upped himself by demanding that the Nets fire their head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks if they wanted any hope of holding onto him. Not to mention, there’s all the usual drama with Simmons that is floating around during this time too.
You can’t really ignore the fact that all that took place just a couple of weeks ago. Not to mention, the Nets fell apart right in front of our eyes last season, and were forced into trading James Harden away just a season after he joined Brooklyn. The Nets have the talent, but there is so much organizational drama that it is tough to see this season ending with a championship for them, and that’s the main reason they won’t end up winning the 2023 NBA Finals.
