The Brooklyn Nets aren't the unluckiest team. Some fan bases mired in ongoing agony would most certainly admit to feeling jealous of Nets fans. A team with an elite general manager like Sean Marks nestled comfortably in a top market like New York while looking to support one of the 10 best players of all time in Kevin Durant is in a pretty good spot. That they can support KD with multiple All-Stars like Kyrie Irving and Ben Simmons might be seen as pure gravy.

But long-suffering Nets fans, ones who've never seen a championship, also have a right to feel frustrated as well.

Dating back to January 2021, the Nets built what was basically one of the greatest offensive juggernauts ever assembled, but never really got to watch it run roughshod over the league. Something always came up.

James Harden's pulled hamstrings, Kyrie Irving's sprained ankles, local vaccine mandates, KD's sprained knee, Joe Harris' ankle … so much has conspired against this team over the last year and change. But dare we say it for fear of jinxing things, things are finally trending up as we move past the 2022 All-Star break. Not only did Brooklyn sign Goran Dragic on the buyout market, but there's relatively good news on all three stars.

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3 reasons for Nets optimism

1) Kevin Durant will be back soon

Kevin Durant first sprained the MCL in his knee back on Jan. 15. Speaking to a group of season ticket holders, GM Sean Marks provided updates on both Durant and Ben Simmons recenty.

“Depending when they go, we’ve got to see how they respond to days like [Tuesday], and we’ll go forward with this. It’s probably going to be tough, to be honest, to be playing in the next three or four days. But we’ll see how it all plays out. I’m certainly not going to bet against either one of those guys.”

Last week, Nets head coach Steve Nash also provided an update on the team's best player.

“I wouldn’t expect him, I’m not like, ‘He’s gonna play right when the break ends.’ There’s obviously a small chance, but we want to be really careful and safe with Kevin.”

So if Nash doesn't expect him back immediately after the break, and Marks doesn't expect him back in the next three or four days, then it doesn't seem totally crazy to wonder if Slim Reaper might be back by this time next week.

Maybe that Mar. 3 home game vs. the Miami Heat?

2) Ben Simmons could be back soon too

Ben Simmons hasn't played since the Sixers' unceremonious playoff exit last season. A combination of mental health issues and him wanting a change of scenery from the team that drafted him has kept him from suiting up so far this season.

Nets fans received an almost disheartening update from ESPN's Ramona Shelburne:

“Ben Simmons, from what I’m told, is going to really ramp it up this week and see where he’s at at the end of the week, but he’s getting close. I don’t think it’s going to – it’s going to be more like weeks rather than months.”

Shelburne sounded like she wanted to paint an optimistic picture, indicating Simmons was closer than people might have thought. Instead, it backfired and caused some alarm since few Nets fans ever thought Simmons was “months” away from return.

Sam Amick of The Athletic reported back in January that Simmons might need “a few weeks” to return following a possible trade. If Simmons somehow missed months, plural, the Nets could theoretically find themselves in a play-in game without Kyrie Irving or Simmons. That would make us have to reevaluate the return on the whole Simmons-James Harden trade.

But Sean Marks' comments, which applied to Durant and Simmons, make it sound like Simmons could be back pretty soon.

Simmons doesn't sound like he'll be ready to play this week. But what about the next one or the one after that? That suddenly feels increasingly possible, though it does seem as if he's behind KD.

3) Kyrie Irving might be a full-time player within a matter of “weeks”

Last week, it sure sounded like there were some winds of change swirling in New York. Governor Kathy Hochul first showed a willingness to pull back on vaccine and mask mandates at the state level, and then NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and NYC Mayor Eric Adams both admitted they felt the indoor vaccine mandate rules are a bit unfair. Why should unvaccinated players on other squads be able to come into Brooklyn and play when local athletes cannot? Even if you don't agree with Irving's stance, you might at least agree that it's a bit weird players on other teams can visit Barclays Center without being vaccinated and play.

On Wednesday, Adams said a plan might be in place to amend the vaccine mandate rules “in the next few weeks.”

If that's the case, and it feels increasingly likely, it would mark the single most important ruling of the Nets' future. Not only would it dramatically enhance the team's 2022 championship odds, it would spare them the headache of wondering what to do about Irving's pending free agency. If he's full-time, they'll happily drop a five-year max on his lap. If he wasn't by July, who knows?

For the first time in some time, things are looking up for the Nets. We're not going to use the phrase “scary hours” anymore. But based on preliminary reports out of Nets camp, the team wants to play with a really fast tempo. So there might be some “7 Seconds Or Less” vibes in our future.

Kevin Durant, Ben Simmons, and Kyrie Irving all out there on a full-time basis? It feels at once so hard to imagine given all of the obstacles fans have dealt with over the last year and a half, and yet it also suddenly feels like just a couple of weeks away from actually happening.