Are The Brooklyn Nets Primed For A 6 Seed In The East?

Sean Marks and the Brooklyn Nets have been working to put the franchise back on track towards respectability. While they haven’t made too much noise in the free-agency department, they’ve gotten a lot of work done via the trading route. Through their numerous acquisitions, the Nets have added more talent and depth to a roster that was in dire need of both during their 2017 campaign. Although the team may not be completely done with their summer moves, is it possible that Brooklyn already possesses a roster good enough for the sixth Seed in the Eastern Conference?

The answer to this question is very complex. If looking at the makeup of this roster alone, the answer would probably be no.

Brooklyn holds no true “game changer” on their depth chart, as its best player is currently Jeremy Lin. This is not a knock at Lin, for he was very impressive during his first year with the Nets putting up averages of 14.5 PPG, 5.1 APG, 3.8 RPG and 1.2 SPG in only 24.5 MPG (per ESPN). The problem was with his durability. Last season Lin played in a total of 36 games thanks in large to lingering hamstring issues. Hamstring injuries are tricky, as they are known to reoccur quite frequently after being aggravated. Is it a career ending ailment? Of course not, but it could derail the teams development if he is constantly injured.

Now, if Lin is fully healthy come next season, this answer could change its course.

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The Nets won a total of 20 games last season. When looking at the 36 games Lin played in, they won 13 of them. As odd as it may seem, this by itself gives the Nets a glimmer of hope. Brooklyn without Lin only won 7 out of 46 games, giving them a winning percentage of 15 percent. With Lin in the lineup, the teams winning percentage bumps up to 36 percent, more than doubling the original number.

Is 36 percent necessarily a good statistic to have? Not unless we’re talking about 3-point percentage.

However, what this statistic does say is that with a healthy Lin, this less than stellar roster could have been in striking range of the 11th seeded Hornets, and potentially even higher. Again, these are not mind-blowing revelations, but when you take into consideration the lackluster roster that was the Brooklyn Nets, it’s impressive.

Now, looking at the weakening of the Eastern Conference as a whole this off-season, things begin to look a little better for the Nets.

Lets do a little math, shall we?

Eight teams make the playoffs in each conference every year.

Of the eight teams that made it, three of them lost their best players whom, in a sense, were the sole reason for their postseason birth:

Team 1) Bulls traded Jimmy Butler to Minnesota

Team 2) Pacers traded Paul George to Oklahoma City

Team 3) Hawks traded Paul Millsap to Denver

Lets face it, these three franchises are not going anywhere without the players they lost this offseason, so……

8 – 3 = 5

Give it up for math everybody!

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There are five teams in the East who should make the playoffs; Cavaliers, Celtics, Wizards, Raptors and Bucks. Outside of this, three more slots are up for grabs. And while the Nets were the worst team in their conference, not to mention the league last year, they could potentially jolt their way to a playoff birth. Not only this but, yes, could in theory move all the way up to the sixth spot.

With Just a healthy Lin, Brooklyn does not posses the talent necessary to be in contention for the playoffs, let alone the sixth seed. However, this is the part where the teams off-season additions come into play.

For starters, let me start off by saying the main problem for the team last year was a lack of health, not necessarily just its players. It’s not like the roster was COMPLETELY void of talent last season. Although they were bad, Brooklyn has a few hidden gems stashed away on their depth-chart.  Guys like Rondae-Hollis Jefferson, Isaiah Whitehead and Caris Levert all have shown promise so far in their early careers.

It’s guys like these who, although they may not be there yet, are young enough to be taught and molded into the player their team needs them to be. They have the ability to take a huge leap next season after getting some more tread on their tires.

As previously mentioned, the Nets have been quite busy this offseason in regards to the trading department. With a few swift moves, Sean Marks was able to acquire a few intriguing pieces including 3-and-D specialist DeMarre Carroll, 7-1 center Timofey Mozgov, and last off-seasons top free-agent priority Allen Crabbe.

With these aforementioned additions Brooklyn’s roster has already upgraded from what it was last season.

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And, like an infomercial, I feel obliged to say, “but wait, there’s more!”

The cherry on top of Brooklyn’s offseason is none other than the acquisition of second overall pick in the 2015 NBA Draft, D’Angelo Russell.

Russell has shown flashes of brilliance in his very young career. Most notably, during the second half of last season where he put up averages of 18.5 PPG, 5.0 APG, 3.0 RPG and 1.8 SPG (per ESPN). The reason for this uptick in statistics was because of his role change on the team.

In mid-February, shooting guard Lou Williams was traded from Los Angeles to Houston, leaving the Lakers searching for a new go-to scoring option. Because of the trade, minutes were up for grabs, and Russell came to the call. We saw the guard average eight more minutes, totaling up to 33.3 MPG for the second half of the season. With extra minutes, and a lack of another strong scoring presence, D-Lo showed off his impressive offensive skill-set. In the end, he became LA’s lead scoring option.

What bodes well for Russell is he’ll probably have that same role with Brooklyn as he did down the stretch in LA. By this, I mean he’d serve as the teams primary offensive weapon. 20+ points and 6+ assists per game is not out of the question for the new Net this season. A new home could lead to new horizons for the combo guard.

With all of this in mind, leading back to the question:

“Is it possible that Brooklyn already possesses a roster good enough for the 6th Seed in the Eastern Conference?”

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The answer:

With a little luck from the health department along with much needed contributions from their newest members in a severely weakened Eastern Conference, Brooklyn could surprise this year.

Although it seems farfetched, attaining the 6 seed may not be as far as you may think.