OH THANK KEVIN
A healthy Durant puts Nets among league’s top contenders
GREAT expectations are finally here for the Nets. They tip off their most highly anticipated season ever on Tuesday, and it’s because of the return of one man.
He’s Kevin Durant. You know who he is.
After going through essentially a gap year — with Durant recovering from a ruptured Achilles and Kyrie Irving limited to 20 games with a shoulder impingement — the Nets have more offensive firepower than a fully operational Death Star. They have a very real shot at winning the Eastern Conference for the first time since 2003, and are aiming even higher.
“We own the expectations, and no one is more upfront about that than the guys we have,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said. “They all know why they’re here, and it’s not right to just put that on the back burner.
“We’re doing everything we can to have those championship characteristics, and that is without a doubt led by our players. Steve Nash has owned that from the get-go, and we’ll see where the chips fall. Winning a title anywhere takes preparation and accountability, but also health and a little luck.”
In this weird, condensed season — fraught by COVID-19 — the Nets are going to need good luck to stay healthy, from both injury and the pandemic. Steering clear of both will be key as they try to break in a new coach in Nash, and mesh Durant and Irving to a team that made the past two postseasons.
STARTING FIVE Can the Nets stay healthy?
If Durant plays opening night against his former Golden State teammates, it will be his first game in 561 days since rupturing his Achilles in Game 5 of the 2019 NBA Finals. Irving has missed 184 regularseason NBA games and 26 more in his lone campaign at Duke. Caris LeVert’s injury history is welldocumented. With that kind of history — combined with a 72-game schedule crammed into just five months — expect the Nets to baby their stars. Durant and Irving will likely be rested often in the first half of the season, and the schedule congestion is assured of being brutal in the second half.
Can Irving lead?
Fair question after his ugly Celtics exit. Irving clearly didn’t see eye-to-eye with several young teammates and coach Brad
Stevens at times, and has admitted multiple times that he struggled to lead in Boston. He will need to do better in Brooklyn.
The Nets overcame the loss of some locker-room leaders in the summer of 2019 by bringing in veteran guard Garrett Temple last offseason. With the wellrespected NBPA vice president gone, Irving may have to step into that role. But will he? Can he?
Can Nash coach?
Much was made about Marks handing a ready-made contender to ex-teammate and longtime friend Nash, despite the twotime MVP having never even been an assistant, much less a head coach. Nash was humble enough to admit that he not only jumped the line, but that he needed a solid staff to help guide him through his growing pains.
Nash will need to not only manage the egos of Durant and Irving, but admits he’s still getting used to watching film through a coach’s eye. He will lean heavily on coordinators Mike D’Antoni and Jacque Vaughn to help with the X’s and O’s, but eventually has to juggle rotations and handle endgame tactics.
“From a coaching standpoint, it’s more getting up to speed, or getting comfortable with the management side of just how many people and departments you’re connecting with constantly and trying to make work,” Nash said.
“Getting used to all the elements of the job more so than just basketball games, the breadth and the depth of all the things you have to do to prepare your team behind the scenes is an adaptation for me. … That’s been an eye-opener and an adjustment for me, but I’ve enjoyed it.”
Can Brooklyn defend?
The Nets were 10th in Defensive Rating last season, with the top three teams also boasting the top three records. With the way the Nets should score, sorting the defense is the key to contention.
Durant joining centers DeAndre Jordan and Jarrett Allen ensures rim protection, and newly signed Jeff Green gives the Nets a switchable big.
But Irving and Joe Harris aren’t lock-down perimeter defenders, and Bruce Brown has his work cut out to crack this rotation.
“We have guys that have length, guys that have athleticism, and we just want to play to those,” Irving said. “Steve reminds me every day, ‘[you’re] head of the snake. You set the pace, you set what we’re demanding out of our team.’
“That’s really been the emphasis, on the defensive end. … Obviously, we can score a bunch of points, but defensively is really where you make your mark and you separate yourself, so we’re looking forward to continue to grow on that end.”
Can the Nets land James Harden? And should they?
Yes to the latter. Not so sure on the former.
The team that gets the star player in a trade usually wins the trade, so if the Nets can acquire Harden, they likely should. Scouts that spoke with The Post felt a Durant-HardenIrving Big Three probably makes Brooklyn favorites to unseat the Lakers, and if it doesn’t work, the three-time scoring champ would still have value.
But after earlier cursory talks, Houston was lessthan-enamored by the players
the Nets have to offer. After the Rockets reportedly expanded trade talks beyond Brooklyn and Philadelphia, they and the Nets are believed to have re-engaged and looped in an unnamed third team. Stay tuned on this one.