Should We Be Worried About The Brooklyn Nets After Disastrous Season Opener?
If you were asked to name the team that was in the news the most this past NBA offseason, you would probably have to say the Brooklyn Nets, but it would be for all the wrong reasons.
From the drama surrounding Kyrie Irving’s future in Brooklyn to Kevin Durant requesting a trade to questions being asked about Ben Simmons' progression and of course, how could we forget the ailments that are beginning to add up for this team.
Seth Curry, Joe Harris and T.J. Warren did not play in the Nets season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night due to injuries and it may not have even mattered if they did play because Brooklyn did not look good whatsoever.
Kevin Durant showed up and did his job as he always tends to do, as the two-time Finals MVP scored 32 points on 11-21 shooting, but the Nets fell 130-108 to a young, hungry Pelicans team that is on the rise in the Western Conference.
Look, it is the first game and a lot can change over these next 81 games for the Nets, but it almost feels like we are obligated to begin questioning this team after everything that they have gone through this offseason.
Durant made it known that he wanted both GM Sean Marks and head coach Steve Nash gone when he requested a trade from the team and while both sides said that they “hashed things out,” the Nets looked dysfunctional and out of focus in their season opener.
Kyrie Irving really struggled to get anything going, scoring just 15 points on 6-19 shooting, 0-6 from three-point range, and Ben Simmons heard it from the home faithful when he fouled out of his first game with the team after recording just 4 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in 23 total minutes.
“It takes time,” Simmons said after the game. “Having back surgery and being away from the game for a year there are little things that your mind might tell you to do something, but your body’s not wanting to do that.”
The Pelicans are no longer bottom feeders in the NBA, as Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum make up one of the better scoring trios in the entire league right now, but the Nets showing no sense of urgency from the opening tip-off and looking like a team that was just there to play basketball is definitely an alarming sight for Nets fans.
Should we be worried about the Nets and their chances at winning a championship after one game?
Maybe this is a slight overreaction to have, especially since they are not at full-strength right now, but the Nets surely have a lot of work to do if they are to contend in the Eastern Conference, a conference that already has a ton of talented, championship-caliber teams at the top of the standings.
The Fast Break Podcast hosted by our own Brett Siegel is now LIVE!
Be sure to catch up on the latest news and intel from around the league by checking out The Fast Break Podcast, now streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify with new episodes releasing every Friday.
