NBA Season Preview 2019-20: The 5 biggest questions for the Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets had as successful an offseason as anyone, but they won’t quite be ready to contend in 2019-20. Here are the five biggest questions for their season.

1. Explain Kyrie Irving to your friend who doesn’t watch basketball but is super into the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Kyrie Irving is 100 percent the Luna Lovegood of the NBA: They’re both slightly off their respective rockers, conveyors of off-the-wall ideas and very formidable when it matters most. Luna is not the most important character in her story, much like Kyrie is not the best player in the NBA. But they’re extremely prominent in their own universes, they don’t care what other people think about them, they’re prone to growing incensed when they’re challenged on some of their more outlandish beliefs and many people see them as loony.

However, when push comes to shove, both have proven themselves capable of stepping up as unlikely heroes. The sour taste of Kyrie’s Boston Celtics tenure is still in everyone’s mouth, and his “the world is flat” rhetoric is just pure nonsense, but no one will ever forget the go-ahead 3-pointer he made in Game 7 of the 2016 NBA Finals to down the mighty Golden State Warriors.

In a similar vein, much like Luna was mocked by her peers for believing in Nargles and other bizarre conspiracy theories peddled by her father at The Quibbler (and be honest, are we sure Kyrie Irving isn’t authoring some real-life equivalent of The Quibbler in his spare time?), Lovegood was one of the few to answer the call when Hogwarts needed protecting at the end of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and then again at the Battle of Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

Kyrie and Luna are very odd individuals, but their talent is undeniable. They have a knack for stepping up in the clutch, and because of this, it’s no wonder they’re still adored despite being so different.

2. What’s the ceiling for this team if Kevin Durant misses the entire season?

First-round playoff upset, and maaaaybe second-round, depending on the matchup. The Nets are largely returning the same young core that won 42 games and earned the 6-seed in the East last season, only they’re replacing first-time All-Star D’Angelo Russell with a six-time All-Star and former NBA champ in Kyrie Irving.

They’ve also added a couple of experienced vets who can still contribute (DeAndre Jordan, Garrett Temple) and a pair of young talents with room to improve (Taurean Prince, David Nwaba). Even if Wilson Chandler is completely washed, another year of growth and continuity for the young core, plus the upgrade to Kyrie, plus a wide-open East behind the top dogs in Milwaukee and Philly, should help Brooklyn land somewhere in the middle of the pack.

A healthy Caris LeVert could be a legitimate difference-maker. Spencer Dinwiddie is still only 26 years old. Rodions Kurucs showed flashes as a rookie. Maybe Dzanan Musa will be able to contribute in year two. Head coach Kenny Atkinson could have a functional 10-man rotation. D-Loading may have been more suited for this style of play, but even if Kevin Durant’s absence denies the Nets their status as legitimate Eastern Conference contenders, their ceiling is still an appearance in the second round.

3. Are you Team Rodions or Team Dzanan?

I mean, at this point you kind of have to be Team Rodions by default, right? Kurucs proved to be a viable part of Brooklyn’s rotation in year one, putting up 8.5 points and 3.9 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game. He only shot 31.5 percent from 3, but made 45 percent of his shots overall and started in 46 of his 63 appearances for the Nets.

Musa, on the other hand, only suited up for nine games with Brooklyn, spending most of his rookie season playing in the G League. He was very good for the Long Island Nets, posting 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game on .439/.357/.792 shooting splits, but at this point, the 20-year old still needs to prove he’s ready for actual NBA action.

Musa just turned 20 in May, so his 2.1 points in 4.3 minutes per game as a rookie shouldn’t concern anyone. The Nets can take their time with his development. For now, their second-round pick from 2018 gets the nod over their first-rounder.

4. How well will Kyrie and Caris LeVert complement each other?

Probably fairly well? On the defensive end, LeVert’s size, length and defensive instincts will help make life easier on Irving, who can take the easier backcourt assignment. Irving was more respectable within the confines of Boston’s top-10 defense, so it’s not like he has to go back to being a liability on that end with Brooklyn’s league-average D.

On offense is where things get interesting. A dislocated ankle cost LeVert 42 games last season, but he was looking ready to make an All-Star leap before that injury, and was arguably Brooklyn’s best player in the playoffs once he returned to form. A guy like that could really use the ball in his hands in a potential breakout season.

However, Irving is one of the league’s most ball-dominant players, and for good reason. That will require some chemistry-building and an adjustment period for both, especially since LeVert isn’t much of a threat off the ball as a career 32.9 percent 3-point shooter. He’ll have to get better in that respect for when Kyrie is controlling the rock, or defenses will be able to sag off him and clog driving lanes.

With that being said, even in limited action together, LeVert and D’Angelo Russell made it work, and that was with Russell posting a 31.1 percent usage rate (fifth in the NBA among players who played at least 40 games). Irving ranked 17th at 28.6 percent usage, while LeVert came in 60th at 23.5 percent.

One way to make it work, and to embrace LeVert’s ascension to stardom as the much-needed third member of a potential Big 3 with KD returns, would be to put the ball in LeVert’s hands more. Irving canned an impressive 45.4 percent of his catch-and-shoot 3s last year (218 attempts), which is a step up from the 39.4 percent Russell shot in those situations (264 attempts).

LeVert, unfortunately, only made 27.3 percent of his catch-and-shoot looks from deep (66 attempts), so unless that drastically changes in the upcoming season, his lack of floor-spacing and Kyrie’s catch-and-shoot ability means it might be smarter to let Brooklyn’s talented youngster cook and play Irving off the ball a bit more than usual.

5. What cultural icon of Brooklyn does this team best represent?

The Brooklyn Bridge. These Nets aren’t the beginning of what’s been a long journey for general manager Sean Marks, nor are they the final destination, since they’re still waiting for a healthy Kevin Durant to reach their true ceiling. They’re the bridge between those two places.

The Nets have never been the premier team in their own city. Similarly, it wasn’t until 1915 that it was even named the Brooklyn Bridge, 32 years after being referred to as the New York and Brooklyn Bridge or the East River Bridge. The Nets have only been called the Brooklyn Nets for seven years now, but they’re already making their push to separate themselves from the New York Knicks as the apple of the Big Apple’s eye.

They’re not there yet, even though they’ve been the superior New York team for years now. With Kyrie Irving ready to take the court, and Kevin Durant not far behind, the 2019-20 Nets are a bridge from the boroughs of Brooklyn to becoming the biggest thing in New York.