Two years ago, the Brooklyn Nets looked like a dead NBA franchise and were the butt of every joke you could think of.
But now, the Nets are suddenly on the rise, as they are coming off of a surprising playoff appearance and landed both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant in free agency this summer.
Of course, Durant will miss all of this coming season due to a torn Achilles, but the fact that Brooklyn was able to sign two All-Star players is a tremendous step in the right direction for what was previously a laughable organization.
Even with Durant sidelined, the Nets have plenty of reasons to be excited going into the 2019-20 campaign, so here are three of them.
3. They have Depth
Look at the top teams in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks, 76ers, Celtics and Pacers. Of those four teams, Milwaukee is the only one that really has any sort of depth, and even that bench is questionable.
The Sixers? Not at all. The Celtics? They're mostly unproven youngsters. The Pacers? They're in a similar situation to Boston.
But then you have the Nets, who may very well be the deepest team in the East.
The signing of DeAndre Jordan has likely pushed Jarrett Allen to the pine, where he will join Spencer Dinwiddie, Garrett Temple and Rodions Kurucs in a very solid group of reserves.
Basically, Brooklyn may end up having at least nine guys who can come in and produce on any given night, and that is significant.
2. They have Some Defensive Versatility
The signings of Jordan and Temple and the trade for Taurean Prince have certainly given the Nets a much more impressive defensive squad, and Caris LeVert is no slouch on that end of the floor, either.
When he wants to, Irving can be a solid defender in his own right, and while Joe Harris not exactly a First-Team All-Defense talent, he is, at the very least, passable.
Then, Brooklyn will have a rising defensive ace in Allen off the bench, coupled with Kurucs, who has the length to guard multiple positions.
I'm not saying the Nets will be one of the top five defensive teams in the league, but they should be quite a bit better than they were a year ago, as they have athleticism and some more toughness on the defensive end.
1. They Seem Like a Playoff Lock
When was the last time the Nets looked like a lock to make the playoffs? Probably back in 2013-14, when they had just traded for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce (which, ironically enough, was the deal that ultimately set them back).
While Brooklyn won 42 games to snare the sixth seed in the East this past year, no one—not even general manager Sean Marks—could have expected that.
This time around, the Nets appear to be a sure-fire lock to make the postseason, especially in an Eastern Conference that has gotten even weaker as a whole.
They'll probably finish outside the top four, but Brooklyn seems to be right in line to earn the fifth seed, and it does have a shot of earning a top-four seed if everything breaks right and/or other teams have injuries.
For once, the Nets actually resemble a solid team.
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