How Many Wins Will the Nets Have This Season?
According to recent figures released by the Westgate Las Vegas Casino, the Brooklyn Nets over/under win total for the 2019-2020 NBA season is 44.
To put this number in perspective, the Nets won 42 games last season, which was good enough for them to earn the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs.
At first glance this number may seem a little low, but at the end of the day, Las Vegas is right on the mark with their analysis. They have appropriately gauged how well the Nets will fare as a team this season.
The Nets had an extremely successful off season by signing Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan, but with Durant not being able to play for at least a majority of the season, the team will only be marginally better than they were last year.
While Irving is certainly a better player than outgoing point guard D’Angelo Russell, Irving has a litany of questions to answer as he prepares to lead the team into the upcoming season.
The two biggest knocks that have followed Irving all throughout his NBA career are that he is injury-prone, and that he is not a very good leader. Both of these concerns were not put to rest when Irving spent two years playing for the Boston Celtics and Head Coach Brad Stevens.
The Celtics front office had great expectations for the team when they traded for Irving, which allowed them to pair him with some of the young players the Celtics are expecting to develop into franchise cornerstone pieces as early as this season.
The Celtics never were able to fulfill the lofty expectations that were placed upon them, and Irving was one of the reasons why that was the case. There were many media reports after Irving opted out of his contract this summer that he stunted the growth of the young players, had issues with Brad Stevens, and was not a great teammate.
These are all claims that Nets fans should be worried about possibly impacting the camaraderie, and ultimate success, of the Nets team this season and going forward. The fact that Durant will not be on the court this season will give Irving a chance to lead this team, and hopefully that does not go awry.
It is paramount that Irving leads by example and brings along young players like Caris LeVert and Spencer Dinwiddie so they can continue to develop their games and reach their full potential. This is important because once Durant is healthy enough to take the court, the championship window for the Nets opens up.
The main reason why Las Vegas has the over/under figure for the Nets correct is Irving is not a player that will be a huge upgrade over Russell. The stats between the two All-Stars were similar last season, but Irving is not an impact player like Durant or LeBron James is.
Nets fans cannot expect Irving to enter the Barclays Center, and make the team an instant title contender. The truth is that Irving is a great number two option on a team, but has shown time and time again, he is not cut out to be the star of a championship team.
Irving will be the star of the team until Durant comes back, and that is a role Irving has struggled with at various times throughout his career.
The 2019-2020 NBA season is a trial run for the team as they begin to play with one another and get a gauge of how successful this team can be for years to come.
As long as all the Nets players, especially Irving, do not cause any damage to the locker room, there is no limit to what this team can accomplish in the future.
With that being said, for this upcoming season, Nets fans should not expect a large uptick in win total from last season. While some of the pieces were shuffled around in the off season, the team will be essentially the same one they were last year.
Brooklyn with be battling for position as a bottom four team in the East, and until Durant is at full-strength that will not change.
Vegas has perfectly positioned themselves with their over/under prediction, and the Nets will go 44-38 this season.
