Although they lost swingman Paul Pierce to the Washington Wizards and guard Shaun Livingston to the Golden State Warriors, the Brookyln Nets could surprise in the NBA‘s Eastern Conference thanks to health of Brook Lopez and a deep roster
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Over the last few years, the Brooklyn Nets have made several big moves.
They sent a package including Derrick Favors to the Utah Jazz to acquire Deron Williams. Then, they struck a deal with the Atlanta Hawks to take guard Joe Johnson and his massive concept. Last season, they traded for Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry from the Boston Celtics.
The Brooklyn Nets did win up advancing to the second round of the playoffs after taking down the Toronto Raptors in seven games but they fell to the Miami Heat in five.
The offseason, they lost both Pierce and Livingston. They do, however, have center Brook Lopez returning from injury and traded for point guard Jarrett Jack to replace Livingston.
Nate Duncan of Basketball Insiders the Brooklyn Nets could actually make some new in the Eastern Conference for those reasons.
"I think I will go with Brooklyn, surprisingly enough. They have a ton of depth and should be able to weather any injuries, and Brook Lopez looks a reasonable facsimile of his previous self during the preseason. With Lopez back and Deron Williams hopefully playing at a higher level than last year (if not star status) they may have more talent than the squad that finished on a tear a year ago. There are fit issues for sure, but I see them narrowly finishing atop this pack."
The Brooklyn Nets aren’t being looked at very highly and several pundits have even predicted them to miss the playoffs but if Lopez can stay healthy, they will likely find themselves back in the postseason.
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