The Brooklyn Nets have a chance to be very good next season, relying on their defensive mastery to keep games close and make it tough for teams with more upper echelon talent to get them out the door.

However, if the Nets want to be a legitimately formidable team, their offense has to improve mightily. Averaging 114.0 points per game on 50.2 percent shooting from the field and 39.2 percent shooting from 3 prior to the 2023 trade deadline, Brooklyn's offense sputtered with the departures of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, as they managed just 111.8 points per game on 45.2 percent shooting from the field and 35.0 percent from 3 afterwards.

Thats even with Nets rising star Mikal Bridges breaking out after being traded from the Phoenix Suns, averaging 26.1 points per game for the Brooklyn while showing remarkable touch on his jumpers. Bridges, the 10th overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, had been averaging a then career-high of 17.2 points per game for the Suns up to that point.

Looking forward, the Nets hope Ben Simmons returns to star form, and point guard. With both Spencer Dinwiddie and Cam Johnson also capable of being effective volume scorers, Brooklyn's best hope will be a more balanced attack.

A fact that Bridges very well knows, leading to him focusing on becoming a better on-ball playmaker next season.

“Yeah, you could do [drills] … but it’s more of a mindset, and having that mindset coming in and watching film,” Bridges tells Brian Lewis of Sports+. “That’s the biggest thing, to have that mindset of playmaking.”

“Me coming off the screen, you want to go score. Yeah, you have that option, but also have everybody else. If everybody eats, that’s the best thing — everybody has a rhythm, and it’s tough to guard…”