The Brooklyn Nets got some unfortunate news as they found out that Kevin Durant injured his knee and will be out for four to six weeks.

This is the last thing that the Nets wanted because now they are going to be without arguably the best player in the NBA and they still only have Kyrie Irving for away games. It is going to be a tough time for the Nets to win games but they do still have James Harden and a few other guys who can help them sneak out some victories.

In order for the Nets to continue finding the success that they are hoping for, they are going to need a few players to step up in Kevin Durant's absence.

Let's take a look at three players that have to step up for the Nets while Durant recovers from his knee injury.

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Players Who Must Step Up For The Nets

3. James Harden

James Harden is an interesting name to mention because he has been playing some great basketball as of late and is certainly going to be the key guy of this Nets team during Durant's absence.

Bringing in James Harden was a perfect decision by the Nets one year ago and this is exactly why they need somebody like him. If one of their big three got injured, they needed Harden to come in and be that guy who he was in Houston for most of his career.

Harden didn't have the start to the season that he was hoping for but he has been able to pick it up as of late. He has been able to get his average back to 22.7 points along with grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out 10 assists per game. He has been a great playmaker for this team this season. If the Nets are going to want to find some success without Durant on the court, they're going to need Harden to play just like he did in Houston and be one of the best players in the NBA.

It's not going to be an easy task for Harden because the Nets don't have much depth and he is going to essentially be the only player out there on the court who can really make a huge impact on a game because of Kyrie Irving. They're going to need some other guys like Patty Mills to continue playing high-level basketball so that Harden can facilitate and still be an elite playmaker just like he is to make that positive impact.

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2. Cameron Thomas

Cameron Thomas was the Nets first round pick in the 2021 draft. Coming out of college, he was an elite scorer who the Nets were ecstatic to draft. He hasn't played a bunch of minutes this year but he is still averaging 17.5 minutes per game. With Kevin Durant's recent injury, it would make sense if his minutes are going to move in to about 30 per game.

It's a lot to ask for a rookie to be an impact and step up for Kevin Durant in his absence because there's arguably nobody in the world who is better than him. What Cam Thomas does need to do is come in and try to score 15 to 20 points a game and be more than serviceable on both sides of the ball.

Losing Kevin Durant is never a good thing and neither are injuries. This could help the Nets in the future and in the playoffs however because if Durant can return to what he was prior to this injury, they will also have Cam Thomas with much more experience and that is going to prove to be valuable come playoff time.

1. Kyrie Irving

The biggest player that the Nets are going to need to step up is Kyrie Irving. At the moment, he is only a part-time player as he can only play away games. If the Nets are going to want to find any success without Kevin Durant on the court, they are going to need Kyrie Irving to get the vaccination and come back to this team while he is out.

He is supposed to be one of the leaders of this team and the fact that he has not gotten the vaccination yet shows that he is not the leader that he needs to be. The Nets have had many injuries throughout the season but this is clearly their biggest one yet. If he does not get the vaccination now, there's essentially no chance that he is ever going to get it.

Kyrie Irving not only needs to play high-level basketball in the games that he can play, but he has to get the vaccination and pick up his teammates. The Nets will not find success if he is only playing with them for their away games without Kevin Durant on the court.