The Brooklyn Nets had an eventful couple of weeks. A wave of COVID-19 landed 10 of their players, including Kevin Durant and James Harden, in health-and-safety protocols. Between injuries to Joe Harris, still recovering from ankle surgery, and that rash of positive tests for coronavirus, the team brass huddled up and made the massive decision to reintegrate the unvaccinated Kyrie Irving as a part-time player—just before he tested positive himself, some Hollywood-esque irony.

Now, players are getting back into the lineup and the Nets are getting healthier as the depths of winter arrive. They did lose their place at the top of the Eastern Conference on New Year's Eve, with DeMar DeRozan continuing his insane tear on an instant-classic game-winner.

The Chicago Bulls are now in first place, owning the tiebreaker with Brooklyn. They'll meet again in a monster showdown on January 12th, which could well be Irving's first game back.

New Year's Resolutions for Nets' Kevin Durant, James Harden, Kyrie Irving

3) Keep searching for switch-heavy lineups

LaMarcus Aldridge has been the Nets' fourth-leading scorer and most reliable frontcourt player. But Steve Nash doesn't seem to love his fit against certain teams, as the seven-time All-Star only logged nine minutes when Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors came to town.

When third-year center Nic Claxton returned from missing 17 consecutive games with a non-COVID illness, the team deployed some switch-everything defensive lineups. They held Luka Doncic's Mavericks and Trae Young's Hawks in check with that strategy. It was some of the best defense the team has played so far this season.

But then things sort of flew off the rails in terms of absences and they haven't really had the personnel to get back to what worked in early December. In 2022, they should be able to explore more of those versatile defensive schemes with Claxton as head of the snake.

2) More load management for James Harden, Kevin Durant

This one is painful to type because the Big Three have logged eight regular-season games since the Nets acquired Harden this time a year ago. The last thing we want is to root for even fewer games for the Big Three, but that disappointing fact also underscores this next Resolution.

The Nets have plenty of wiggle room now. Sure, they'll say they're focused on winning and playing their best brand of hoops. But the truth of the matter is, they can actually drop all the way to the six seed in the East and mostly be fine. And if they did, we might be able to argue they'd be better off since Irving is not eligible for home games anyway. Their biggest advantage will be away from Barclays Center.

Obviously, they'll want to avoid the play-in tournament. A situation where they rest their stars too much and fall to the seven seed would leave them in a one-and-done playoff game for all the marbles without the services of Irving. 

But really, any of those top-six seeds would be fine, giving Brooklyn the prudent option to further delay fan gratification and start load managing Harden and Durant moving forward. They're both atop the league leaders in minutes and they don't have to be anywhere close to there moving forwards. The 2016-2017 Golden State Warriors were the greatest team ever assembled and Durant didn't top 26 points or 34 minutes per game. Less is more for the regular season when managing a super-team.

If the first or second of a back-to-back is a cakewalk, maybe Durant sits that one out. If Irving is only available for road games by playoff time, they absolutely cannot afford to have Harden or Durant dealing with a hamstring or ankle issue as well.

1) Move heaven and earth to make Kyrie Irving a full-time player

I don't know if this one is at all possible, but it's still the most important resolution here. The Nets have to try to get Irving back full-time somehow.

In the scenario where the Nets don't win the championship, there likely exists a soul-crushing playoff loss or two at Barclays Center and all eyes will be on Irving, healthy yet ineligible to help. Stephen A. Smith would have an absolute field day with that one. “It is a disgrace!!!” 

Those who disagreed with the team's stance to bring Kyrie back will say the season wasn't worth comprising their organizational principles for him to play. Those who were fine with the choice will still have to accept that only having a Big Three half the time isn't good enough to beat the likes of Steph Curry's Warriors or Chris Paul, Devin Booker and the Phoenix Suns.

If that hellscape isn't grim enough for you, you can strap in and wait for this segment on First Take: “Should the Nets offer a five-year max for a part-time player or let him walk?” Stephen A. would like nothing more than analyzing those icky choices.

So is there a way out? Durant can try his best to change his friend's mind. Joe Tsai can use the full weight of his financial and political leverage to look for loopholes with New York City's new mayor, Eric Adams. Tsai might personally fund some new plant-based vaccine initiatives.

If there is any way to get Irving back to full-time status for at least the Eastern Conference Finals, they need to find it. Because if we reach his unrestricted free agency and this is still just a part-time gig for him, we'll never be able to watch First Take again.