TITLE PRETENDERS
Nets once again eliminated by East champs; face decision on 76ers’ pick
For the second year in a row, the Eastern Conference champion eliminated the Nets in the playoffs on their way to an NBA Finals appearance.
The Boston Celtics’ Game 7 victory over the Miami Heat not only punched their ticket to a date with the Golden State Warriors, they also delivered a gut punch to a Nets organization that has come up short two seasons in a row. The Nets were just a half-inch — or an injured ankle or hamstring — away from defeating the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round of last year’s NBA playoffs.
This time around, however, there was no such silver lining. The Celtics were the far better team and swept the Nets on their own home floor in the opening round of this year’s postseason.
There’s no coincidence Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving’s former teams are meeting each other in the NBA Finals. Both the Celtics and the Golden State Warriors positioned themselves as conference mainstays before both Durant and Irving forced a trade. Both franchises have the stability, chemistry, continuity and coaching chops the Nets hope to build in the near future.
Both franchises also boast unmistakable identities, and the same can be said for the Bucks and Heat. The Nets have their work cut out for them ahead of the most pivotal summer in their history. And they must make a decision on at least one item on their offseason to-do list in the coming weeks.
PHILLY’S DRAFT PICK
The Nets acquired a conditional first-round pick from the Philadelphia 76ers as part of the James Harden deal. They have until Wednesday at 5 p.m. to decide whether or not they want to use that pick in this year’s NBA Draft or defer it to 2023.
That means the Nets have to decide whether or not the Sixers of next year will post a better record than the Sixers of this year. This year, they finished with the Eastern Conference’s fourth seed, which earned them pick No. 23.
It’s a difficult decision to make because the Sixers are a difficult team to get a read on. First, as talented as Joel Embiid is, he is injury-prone, and if he misses a significant amount of time, the Sixers’ record will suffer. Second, Harden has regressed beyond recognition. He is no longer the aggressive scorer he once was in Houston and is now primarily a facilitator. Third, the Sixers will more than likely attempt to trade Tobias Harris this summer for a player who better fits their needs. And fourth, Tyrese Maxey can ball and will likely take another step in his development next season.
There’s also this: The Nets need to improve their roster, and with no cap space to sign free agents outside of their mid-level exception, an additional first-rounder this summer will help sweeten the pot in any trades they potentially make. The Nets are able to trade the 76ers’ pick because they still own a pick next year — even if it’s not theirs. The Houston Rockets own swap rights to the Nets’ 2023 first-round pick. If they owned the pick outright, the collective bargaining agreement’s Ted Stepien Rule would have prohibited the Nets from being without firstround picks in consecutive drafts.
Pick No. 23 is probably the same ballpark the 76ers end up next season. It’s difficult to imagine Philadelphia ending the season with a better record than their Eastern Conference counterparts — mainly the Heat, Celtics and Bucks — but anything can happen.
This past season alone proved the Nets don’t need more rookies. They don’t need players who won’t touch the floor in the playoffs. They need assets to trade for those players, which makes deferring the pick to 2023 the smart move — even more so if the Sixers don’t finish high in the standings next season.
DURANT DISAGREES
Durant disagreed with the idea that Stephen Curry faced seven times more double-teams than him during their NBA Finals runs with the Golden State Warriors in 2017 and 2018. He may have also disagreed that Curry doesn’t need an NBA Finals MVP to validate his Hall of Fame career with his somewhat cryptic tweet.
Durant responded on Twitter to a clip of Warriors star Draymond Green appearing on the Colin Cowherd Podcast. Green said on the podcast that “Kevin Durant was absolutely insane (in those NBA Finals), but Steph Curry got double-teamed probably seven times the amount that KD did in a given series. So when you watch those games and you say his numbers could have been a little down, if you don’t understand basketball, you’re going to say he needs to validate that with a Finals MVP.”
Durant responded to the clip of Green saying, “From my view of it, this is 100% false.” Durant won Finals MVPs in both 2017 and 2018 and Andre Iguodala won Finals MVP in 2015. Curry remains without a Finals MVP, though his three NBA championships and record-setting three-point numbers have long punched his ticket to the Hall of Fame.
There’s a strong chance Curry wins his first Finals MVP if the Warriors defeat the Celtics in the NBA Finals.