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The Brooklyn Nets had an up-and-down start, but they are firmly ahead of the pack in the East. They have a three-game lead over the Bulls and the Bucks, and the squad is looking very good. They have seven wins in the last nine games, with the lone losses coming against the Rockets and the Bulls. This is peculiar since they are without Kyrie Irving, and without James Harden for the last three. When it is considered that a massive number of players in the health and safety protocols right now, the Nets' recent play looks that much more impressive.
Now, they are set to receive Irving back for away games, as Shams Charania reported. This is perceived as a huge boost for the Nets, but that just might not be that simple. Of course, Irving is still an amazing player, and he would help any team in the league, apart from possibly the Suns and the Warriors. However, it can be said that the Nets are just fine without him. There are two reasons why the Nets might not need Irving back.
Kevin Durant is a beast – and does not need additional help
It is hard to forget all the analysts who believed that, as he was coming back from the Achilles injury, Durant will never be the same. In essence, they were somewhat correct, but it went in another direction – Kevin Durant has arguably never looked better. He has just put the team completely on his back this season and almost all wins can be attributed to his MVP level play. The Nets have not been missing Irving seemingly because Durant is able to do these things.
Generally speaking, at 32 years of age and with a major injury behind him, it is absolutely incredible what Kevin Durant is able to do for these Nets. Before landing in health and safety protocols on Saturday, he's played 27 out of the 29 games. He is averaging 37 minutes, 29.7 points, 7.9 rebounds, 7.4 rebounds, with uncanny shooting splits of 52.9/38.2/88.6. When we dwell deeper into his numbers, it gets even more impressive.
Durant is able to hit over 50% of his shots in all areas of the court, except the three-point shot. Right now, he is averaging 51.6% from three to ten feet, 51.1% from ten to sixteen feet, and an amazing 59.5% of shots from sixteen feet to the three-point line. These numbers are seriously impressive and, especially, the long two at almost 60% efficiency is just unbelievable, as that can be a really tough shot. Due to his length and shooting prowess, the Nets have been able to use Durant in all offensive manners and they are reaping the benefits of his greatness.
With Irving coming in, we all know that he is not much of a facilitator, yet he requires the ball in his hands to be effective. Interestingly enough, it is the pairing of Patty Mills and Durant that has had much success, with the duo putting up the best point differential at +13.7, according to Basketball Reference. This is mostly due to Mills being a point guard who does not need the ball, rather he feeds off the attention given to Durant. With Durant and Irving both on the floor for the Nets, one must be the off-ball player, and either one of them being off the ball is a waste of their talent.
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The Nets get a lot of contribution from the rest of their roster
The problem of many top-heavy rosters is the lack of true quality from the rest of their squad. Irving, Durant, and Harden eat up almost all of the salary cap made available to the Nets, so they really need to dig deep and find some affordable talent. Of course, all of that comes with the hope they do not have to use it much, but as luck has had it for the Nets, they needed it due to Harden's injury and Irving's absence.
However, the young guns on the roster have been effective in the limited minutes they have been getting. Most interestingly, rookie Cameron Thomas has impressed many out there who really did not know who he was. The former LSU guard featured in 22 games this season, and while most of these were garbage time minutes, he got his foot stuck in the rotation in the last couple of games. He scored 18 in the loss to the Rockets and had four games with 10+ points in the last five for the Nets. He has been the spark off the bench the team needed when Mills was moved into the starting lineup.
Other guys included here are David Duke Jr and Nicolas Claxton, primarily. Duke Jr is on a two-way contract for the Nets and only got action in four of the last five games. In them, he had three games with valuable contributions off the bench, with a ten and a nine-point game versus the Raptors and the Rockets, respectively. Claxton lost a lot of his minutes due to the additions of Millsap and Aldridge. He featured in only 11 games this season, with serious minutes coming only in the last couple of games. Against the Raptors, he had 16 points and seven rebounds, while in a direct match-up with Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers, he had 17 points.
These are clearly amazing contributions, and that is even without mentioning guys like Day'Ron Sharpe, who also did their part. While Irving is an all-NBA player, without doubt, he would disrupt the next-man-up mentality currently alive and well in the Nets. Of course, there is an argument to be made whether these guys would even be featuring when rotation shrinks for the playoffs, but they are still working very hard to earn their place and with the addition of Irving, even just for the away games as reported, there is a possibility that these guys still get the end of the bench and their valuable contributions completely disappear.
