The Brooklyn Nets aren’t expected to win many games this upcoming season. As fans know, that won’t bring any future fortune to the team. Brooklyn still owes one more draft pick as part of the Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce trade. Despite that, the keys to the future of the Eastern Conference are in Brooklyn’s hands.
Few around the league would allow you the chance to finish your explanation if you said the Brooklyn Nets hold the keys to the Eastern Conference this upcoming season. The Nets aren’t expected to win many games. They also don’t possess any game changing superstars (that we know of at least).
However, the Nets do in fact have the opportunity to bring order to the Eastern Conference. In fact, the reason why isn’t because of any single player on their roster.
Well, indirectly it does. The reason the Nets have so much power is because their 2018 first round draft pick is owned by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Yes, the same Cavaliers that have won the Eastern Conference title the past three years.
This past season, the Boston Celtics were able to secure the #1 seed in the east and were still able to add a top three selection. They could have had the #1 pick courtesy of Brooklyn but instead dealt it for more assets.
Regardless, the Celtics got better because of the infamous Billy King trade of 2013 that brought the KG/Pierce combo. Boston heads into this coming season improved because of the Nets struggles of last season. Not to mention, the Nets’ 21-win season in 2015-16 gave a 48-win Boston team the #3 selection.
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The Nets’ struggles have made the rich richer. The Celtics have only gotten stronger due to the four-year old mistake King made.
The Cavaliers are a different animal than Boston though. Cleveland has been overwhelmingly dominant in the east. Respectable franchise like the Atlanta Hawks have torn down their rosters because of the fact that they didn’t have a roster built to beat LeBron James’ Cavs. “The Process” in Philadelphia was facilitated by the team realizing it lacked the firepower to match up with Cleveland, and James’ Heat in 2013-14, as well.
The Nets have been in a precarious place the past few seasons because of this. They has not been able to compete due to a lack of assets and their players rapidly aging. Their losing, which has been unavoidable, has only further widened the gap from the top of the east to the rest of the pack.
The Nets having another losing season can potentially further widen that chasm. Cleveland is already armed to be the conference’s top contender, but giving them a top five pick in what looks to be a loaded draft class could have far reaching consequences. The Cavs could keep their core in tact after winning a title and then add a future superstar.
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The Cavs could also use that pick to gain another superstar in their quest to dethrone the Golden State Warriors. Imagine if Cleveland could add a talent like DeMarcus Cousins or Paul George using the lottery pick as a sweetener in a trade.
The Cavaliers could potentially strengthen their grip on the east if the Nets lose enough to give the pick maximum value. Brooklyn winning games and even pushing for the playoffs could severely lower the value of the Cavaliers’ newest asset.
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Which is all to say the Nets have the power to weaken the overlords of the Eastern Conference. If the Nets can be competitive, they will indirectly make the rest of their conference more competitive.
With great power comes great responsibility. The Nets’ responsibility is to win enough so that the only winners the east has known for three straight years doesn’t grow in power themselves.