I think we can all agree that it will be a tremendous disappointment to everyone in the Brooklyn Nets organization if they do not win the NBA championship.
It won’t be good enough to make the Finals. That’s not why they signed the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, traded for James Harden,and added veteran Blake Griffin during this season. They have put an All-Star team on the floor.
Well, actually let’s make an adjustment to that statement, They have put themselves in a position to put an All-Star team on the floor, although it hasn’t really happened yet.
Will it?
It’s not a matter of how much talent they have. They’ve got enough. But they may not be healthy enough to cross the finish line with some authority.
2021 NBA Championship Betting Odds
Here is what we’re looking at as far as the odds to win the NBA title at America’s Bookie. As you can see, the Nets are the favorites:
Brooklyn Nets +195
Los Angeles Lakers +275
Los Angeles Clippers +400
Utah Jazz +700
Milwaukee Bucks +700
Philadelphia 76ers +900
Phoenix Suns +1500
First, keep in mind that the teams that lead the NBA Eastern and Western conferences are not in the top three on that list.
That includes the 76ers, who beat the Nets 123-117 on Wednesday night. There was some decent news for the Nets, because Kyrie Irving, who had been missing games yet again with “personal matters,” came back to score 37 points. DeAndre Jordan, who had more or less been phased out of things up front, had 12 points and 14 rebounds.
But Brooklyn was missing Harden, Durant, Aldridge and Griffin.
Of course, all of this won’t matter if the Nets all get healthy and get themselves together in time for the playoff push. After all, that is what’s important. This year there are ten teams from each conference in the post-season, and it’s going to be a long two-month journey. You have to wonder about the factor of a home court advantage at this point, so even though the Nets have been neck-and-neck with the Sixers for the #1 spot in the East, coach Steve Nash would gladly trade the top seed for the opportunity to have a roster that is intact.
Harden has a strained hamstring, and he is going to be evaluated in a little more than a week. It is understandable that the organization wants to be careful, because this is a guy who had led the league in minutes until his injury. He is also the floor leader, so the offense is going through him.
Durant should be okay. But again, they’re being careful. He recently returned from a 23-game injury absence. It’s really been Durant’s decision as to whether he is going to play, and he isn’t getting involved in the back end of back-to-backs, which is why he didn’t play Wednesday night.
As for Irving, who knows when he is going to have another “personal matter” that takes him out of action for a while?
There appears to be a legitimate supporting cast, as sometimes is the case when a team creates a “Big Three” of his level.
The problem is that the “Big Three” needs to be together for the Nets to win the title in the NBA this season.
And do you know how much time they have spent together?
They have been on the floor at the same time for 186 minutes over seven games.
That’s about the length of a playoff series.
So what is in danger of happening here is that they may not even be in a position to develop enough chemistry to do what this team’s management assembled them to do.
The Lakers (+275) will be difficult to beat when they get LeBron James and Anthony Davis back, regardless of where they are now. The Sixers (+900) have stayed right near the top of the East for most of the year. The Clippers (+400) have their two superstars. And Utah (+700) and Phoenix (+1500) are still the top two teams in the West.
They have chemistry on their side, So there’s a lot of competition out there. Maybe too much.
