Brooklyn Nets: No need for a ‘big trade’, continuity is important

The Brooklyn Nets have an impressive lineup; they have two featured stars complemented with roster depth. Making a “big trade” doesn’t feel necessary.

When Sean Marks signed Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving this offseason he announced to the masses that the Brooklyn Nets are going to be in the contending discussion in the immediate future. Had the framework not been in place, these acquisitions never happen. Stars of their magnitude wouldn’t just join any roster, they recognized the culture in place and the complementary pieces the team has that will help them towards their ultimate goal: the Larry O’Brien trophy.

Continuity is important, allowing a newly-formed roster to gel and find a rhythm and progress/grow has its obvious benefits, but it isn’t exactly common practice in the NBA anymore. With star players moving as frequently as they do, it’s become challenging to keep a roster together—so will the Nets go for a home-run via trade or stay put with the roster at hand?

Now, this isn’t stating that the Nets shouldn’t test the markets of free agency and add in players to help their cause; they just don’t need to make a significant trade and alter their roster. When healthy, they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with in the eastern conference.

There are contract situations looming in the near future, primarily Joe Harris and Taurean Prince‘s expiring contracts next summer. Securing Harris to a long-term deal, or just keeping him a Net in general, should be the primal focus point after the conclusion of the 2019/20 season.

If Prince lives up to the optimistic outlooks fans of the franchise have for him hopefully Tsai is willing to flirt with the luxury tax—though the logistics of the situation will prove to be strenuous.

Dinwiddie has already proven to be one of the better bench players in the association, and Caris LeVert is emerging amongst the ranks of his peers. Then you have Jarrett Allen and DeAndre Jordan, both of whom are elite roll men in pick and roll situations and elite rim-protectors (though at this point in his career, labeling Jordan as such seems, well, generous).

When called upon, Durant and Irving can get a bucket any which way they want. And if they struggle on any given night—especially come April-June—there are numerous players on this roster that can alleviate the pressure off of them. The importance of having that in the later rounds of the NBA playoffs can’t be understated.

This upcoming season acts as an “experimental” campaign for the Nets, to a certain degree, but they’re not going to be given the opportunity to play a lot of basketball at 100 percent. Easing Durant in and seeing how certain players adjust their game(s) to complement his style will be intriguing, but there’s no need to do anything drastic in the summer of 2020.

We’ve seen this past June how a team with a featured star, a complementary star, and roster depth can fare. With the eastern conference up for grabs, having Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and a deep roster will likely prove beneficial for Brooklyn. Barring disaster, running it back for the 2020/21 season seems like a good idea.