The Nets are in the worst position of any NBA team. They will probably be sold within the next year or two. They have a lot of players with huge question marks, and chances are, half of them will perform how the Nets will want them to, and half of them will be on the other end of the see-saw.
As much as Kidd was the butt of many jokes with the way the Brooklyn coaching staff was handled, and more importantly, how poor of an actor the cup spilling incident proved him to be, Kidd did some very creative things as coach. The Nets had a ton of struggles and injuries, and Kidd was able to use some bizarre lineups and find success.
I’m not so sure that Lionel Hollins will be able to do the same. When Hollins was with the Grizzlies, they were very good, but then the Grizzlies didn’t want him anymore (adds some suspicion), and then when Gasol came back last season, the Grizzlies were one of the best teams in the entire NBA (adds a little more suspicion).
Along with that coaching suspicion, those player question marks come up and it adds up to the theory that the Nets are going to be pretty bad this season. The Nets’ success hugely depends on Deron getting back to the form he had a few years ago. Every so often, he will have those flashes, but he will have to sustain that over a season, and that seems unlikely.
Speaking of unlikely, what are the chances that Lopez stays on the court for the full season? It’s always disheartening to see a top offensive talent sitting on the sidelines for a heap of games, and sadly, it seems unlikely that it’ll change this season. It could be selective memory, but it seems more often than not, big men just don’t come back from foot injuries (yes, there are a few cases where one did come back, but it’s rare).
One more unlikely: the Nets making the playoffs.
Best Case: 50-32
Williams and Lopez avoid injuries all season, and they return to peak form. Joe Johnson bombs 3s and destroys smaller guards, and Jack, Teletovic and Plumlee dominate off of the bench. The Nets also have KG starting halves and playing 10-15 minutes of great defense and actually hitting shots from the elbows. The Nets snag a 3 seed and lose to Cleveland in 6 in the ECF.
Worst Case: 30-52
Williams and Lopez are injured all season, and the Nets are stuck with big, bad contracts that they can’t get rid of (well, even more stuck than they are now). The Nets then have to rely on Jack far too much, and he’s exposed on defense and isn’t the offensive threat they were hoping for. KG can’t defend anyone anymore, and he can’t get enough lift to hit his jump shots. Kirilenko gets sick and tired of playing on this horrible team and outs Mikhail Prokhorov for the under the table deal they made to bring Kirilenko here, and the Nets are punished and lose the few draft picks they still actually own.
Prediction: 33-49