Here we are through 23 games, now over a quarter of the way through the regular season and the Brooklyn Nets are far from perfect. But they are in first place in the East despite playing without the services of a Top 20 NBA superstar in Kyrie Irving.

It's a credit to their top-end talent in Kevin Durant. It's a credit to James Harden, who is playing at an All-Star level, despite causing widespread panic because he's not in All-NBA form at this point. It's a credit to Steve Nash and the rest of the team's coaching staff.

However, the team is not out of the woods. The road ahead may be quite treacherous. And like almost any team that's in championship-or-bust mode, there's a better chance they're going to fall short than accomplish their goal.

Let's look at the the biggest challenges the Nets are facing this 2021-22 season.

Brooklyn Nets' Biggest Challenges

3. They're simply not as good against the best teams right now

The Nets have lost to the Milwaukee Bucks, Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Chicago Bulls (twice) for seven total Ls. Those teams have a combined record of 97 wins and 46 losses. Brooklyn's 16 wins have come against teams with a combined 128-180 record.

You may have heard, the Nets have yet to pass a handful of their early season “tests.” They're stacking up wins in the games they really should win, but they've also been consistently outplayed in their losses suffering blowout defeats to the Bucks, Hornets, Heat, Bulls and Warriors.

It's fair to say that the team has relied too heavily on Kevin Durant's brilliance through the early going of the year. And they have struggled to generate the type of consistent help which would take pressure off of his shoulders when facing the league's best.

That point bleeds into this next one….

2. Let's face it, James Harden has been disappointing so far

Few expected James Harden to struggle to the degree in which he has so far. Most of the reports in training camp were that he had a great rehab from his hamstring injury and he even indicated he felt better than ever at the time. We may have had some sense the NBA wanted to crack down on non-basketball plays, but we didn't know Harden would become the “poster boy” for new rule changes.

Zooming out and we can see that Harden's second month has been stronger than his first month. There is reason for optimism here moving forwards.

But his splits in wins versus losses is deeply concerning and that trend has held into his most recent month of improved play.

Some games he looks really spry, others he looks flat out slow. And then there are the times he looks like he's finding ways to be productive and aggressive, without the type of burst he has relied upon in the past.

Could adaptations like this below be the next phase of his career?

The biggest question of the Nets' season that does not involve vaccines is basically this: will James Harden ever get back to the way he looked when Brooklyn first acquired him?

Harden was in the MVP conversation as a Net in 2021. Has aging, a certain lifestyle, his hamstring injury and some new rules diminished his ability in a permanent way? The Nets hope he simply needs more time to find his rhythm, confidence and conditioning. But this is one challenge facing them today.

For more on Harden's struggles, tune into the “Nothing but Nets” podcast where we discussed that topic and asked if Blake Griffin might be washed.

1. No Kyrie Irving in sight

Kyrie Irving's absence continues to be one of the NBA's biggest stories. What might happen with the 2016 finals winner has massive ramifications.

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“We just focus on our group and getting better every single day, and if we get the gift of his return, we’ll be ecstatic, but we can’t count on it,” Steve Nash said after Monday’s practice in Industry City, per Kristian Winfield of New York Post. “We can’t wait for him. We have to get to work, and get better, and our group’s been awesome this year.”

If Irving returns, the Nets would immediately become the team to beat. If he does not, they're just one of a handful of teams with a realistic chance at a championship, and unlikely to emerge as the last team standing. This leaves them with the need to work the phones ahead of the February trade deadline. They might have to take 65 cents on the dollar if they want to get KD and Harden help this season and avoid losing Irving in free agency come July.

But they'll also want to continue to check in with the latest on Kyrie, and if anything might change. Here's the latest from Brandon “Scoop” Robinson on how Irving doesn't want to be viewed as an anti-vaxxer:

https://twitter.com/BrooklynNetcast/status/1467919449839779847?s=20

It's truly unprecedented times. The range of outcomes is mind-boggling.

A change of a city mandate rules, perhaps the emergence of a plant-based vaccine, a scientific break-through revealing a new booster which might have less impact on certain preexisting health conditions, a simple change of heart, could all benefit the Nets title odds massively. And so could a trade, potentially.

No change at all to the current status quo would leave them trying to win a championship without a max-salaried, All-NBA talent who isn't injured. No small task even for a team with an MVP candidate in Kevin Durant. If nothing changes, other teams will likely increase their aggressiveness via trade market, noting the Nets' perceived vulnerability. When the sharks smell blood in the water, they begin to swarm.

Those are the three biggest challenges facing the Nets today