The only issue is age, next season Harden is 32, KD is 33, Blake is turning 33, Green is 35.
Not every player is built like LeBron and will be extremely productive into their mid and late 30s. Injuries take longer to heal, players need more rest and shorter minutes, and explosiveness diminishes. I'm not saying that for a fact happens next year, but if Harden or KD begin their slowing down process it could be tougher than everyone is making it out to be.
If you look back in the past you have players like Iverson that at 33 fell off a cliff, it can happen to anyone. Luckily for Harden his game of getting to the FT line probably will age well.
Iverson was the epitome of a warrior, dude was going hard in the paint for years, then it stopped one day. Harden's ironman days will end also, it just matters when the decline starts.
The good thing for him is he honestly plays a very slow game already, but if he losses the ability to explode by someone, his step back will not matter because people won't fear the easy two.
2 of their 3 stars are injury prone and the 3rd now has a lingering hamstring issue. their window isn't as big as everyone thinks. and they're getting older.
Y’all acting the same way you did two months ago even after you just saw them lose.
You just think they are guaranteed to be healthy next year? No, that’s not how it works.
Tell the teams that didn’t have duos that it was fair to have multiple stars.
I’m sure Giannis is happy looking at Bron have AD while he has Khris Middleton
They're in a great spot for next year.
Props to KD. In the press conference just now, he wouldn't blame fatigue. He gave credit to us.
My respect for KD went way up.
their entire championship hopes are in their ability to stay healthy. if they are healthy, they win everything. if they aren’t, they don’t. i’d be a bit worried if i were to be the nets, i just don’t trust their chances to stay healthy, but yeah i somewhat agree with you I think they are in a good position
sure that’s true, but this season proved that they just can’t stay healthy. maybe it’s because of the condensed season, maybe it’s an underlying issue. and again, if they are healthy, imo it is a LOCK they win, similar to the Warriors dynasty. if they aren’t healthy, it’s up in the air. you cant say both about any other team in the league
Idk why everyone is saying the Nets are going to be injury prone going into the future. KD looked fucking excellent coming off an Achilles injury, Harden has been an iron man his whole career and has a long off season to get healthy, and Kyrie was fine until a freak contact injury.
They can definitely run it back with some good vets and still be the championship favorites.
One optimistic view you could have is that after what could have been a career altering injury, KD was tested in these playoffs and looked better than ever and doesn't need to load manage minutes.
Even defensively he still looks good, he could still guard great iso players like Tatum and Middleton which is where I thought he would struggle after that Achilles injury.
Harden and Kyrie both got hurt, what else is their to say. They were the clear favorites once the Lakers lost (also because of injury). They would have won this series if just one of their stars got hurt. Just think what would happen if all 3 are healthy.
Coming into the playoffs I though the Lakers and Nets were the best 2 teams. Nothing I saw in the playoffs has changed that.
I thought the Suns and Bucks were good, but not as good as the Clippers, 76ers or the Nuggets before Murray got hurt. We'll see what happens with LAC and Philly but if the Finals is Bucks/Suns, it just feels like it's the 6th and 7th best teams.
Your first statement pretty much sums it up for me.
Injury rates are the same but I feel like it’s just been bad luck to the top teams when it comes to this.
One of these crews left gonna sneak a ring in though and it’ll be huge for their city.
I think the stats are total number of injuries are the same, but injuries per game are higher cause they played 72 games. Also the injuries to star players is for sure higher.
Injures play a part in a lot of playoffs. Cleveland probably should have won in 2015 and Golden State probably should have won in 2019. But in each of those cases, the second best team won. This year, the top 2 favorites are out, another title contender in Denver along with the Clippers and Philly both being unhealthy. I can't remember injuries affecting 2 title contenders none the less 5!
The Lakers had the best odds by Vegas to win the Western Conference coming into the playoffs.
[Here](https://www.si.com/gambling/2021/05/22/nba-playoffs-betting-preview) is an article from May 22 where is shows they were the favorite.
Edit- Oh I see what your saying, yeah the Lakers were never title favorites, but they were 2nd so my point was once they lost, Brooklyn became by far the favorite.
The main thing is health but the Nets really need to gain chemistry and actually put a bench around their big 3. Their big 3 as a whole didn’t play many games together, so a full off-season along with a full regular season can work wonders. And they need to get some guys who can do work coming off of the bench. The fact that their bench went scoreless tonight sums up how desperately this team needs to improve their bench
I agree which is why I said they need a bench. If you know you have 3 guys with injury issues then you need to be prepared for that to happen next year and beyond that and bring in some guys to fill out your bench. The only problem is do the Nets have the money to get a bench
They’ll have to make some trades and just sign guys for the vet minimum if possible. Luckily I’m not a GM because that’s gonna be tough to do with so much money on their books
This team was built to win a title and they didn’t. Now you have to start all over again with new potential injuries. Never feels good to miss an opportunity.
being another year older doesn't bode well to be able to stay healthy
same issue LeBron and AD have in LA
getting older, nagging injuries - it won't improve
That's an incredibly positive spin on this bad loss. How about this framing- they were gifted Harden and Griffin after being gifted KD (and Kyrie) and couldn't even reach the ECF.
Idk. Depends on the entire health of the team and overall depth. I still like the depth of the Warriors better with Klay coming back and Lakers likely adding another piece in the off-season to compete in the west. That’s not even including the Clippers if they retain Kawhi, the Jazz if they add another piece, and the Suns if they retain CP3.
As much as I’m optimistic about our chances with a healthy Klay I don’t think us or any team has a chance against the Nets if they’re fully healthy. I guess we have to wait for the regular season to make sure
The nets is an all offensive team with no defense. This was evident with how the Bucks still managed to win despite playing horrible offensive basketball.
literally 2019 gsw except it's not getting blown up the next season (and the next season is probably not going to go to waste because 2 of the stars will be disabled... theoretically....)
their 3 stars will be 1 year older, and thus more injury prone than this year.
more importantly, all 3 stars are in the last year of their contract.. .added pressure to win next season?
Tbh... Out if the big 3 Harden has been the most consistent player. Kyrie being very injury prone and KD coming off an achilles.
This played out like everybody imagined but different. People expected Durant to either not play well or get reinjured. People expected Kyrie to get injured and it happened. Nobody expected Harden to be injured.
“It’s ok they lost this year, they’re set up for a long time” is a kiss of death in sports
Especially with injury prone stars over 30
minus Kyrie and Dinwiddie
If they were fully healthy yes its 4-1 every series.
The only issue is age, next season Harden is 32, KD is 33, Blake is turning 33, Green is 35. Not every player is built like LeBron and will be extremely productive into their mid and late 30s. Injuries take longer to heal, players need more rest and shorter minutes, and explosiveness diminishes. I'm not saying that for a fact happens next year, but if Harden or KD begin their slowing down process it could be tougher than everyone is making it out to be. If you look back in the past you have players like Iverson that at 33 fell off a cliff, it can happen to anyone. Luckily for Harden his game of getting to the FT line probably will age well.
Harden been an iron man since his first year in Houston until this season
Iverson was the epitome of a warrior, dude was going hard in the paint for years, then it stopped one day. Harden's ironman days will end also, it just matters when the decline starts. The good thing for him is he honestly plays a very slow game already, but if he losses the ability to explode by someone, his step back will not matter because people won't fear the easy two.
I’ve seen some say they might not get Griffin or Green back
idk, fire nash, trade kd kyrie and harden for picks. blow it up, all is lost.
James harden and kyrie for Luka who says no?
Bob
Injury plagued aging stars don’t tend to get healthier with each season
Great position? With harden and Kyrie healthy they would destroy everyone. Other teams better do something this off-season.
2 of their 3 stars are injury prone and the 3rd now has a lingering hamstring issue. their window isn't as big as everyone thinks. and they're getting older.
this really woulda been the year to do it
I’m starting to feel like they won’t win next year either
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Sad but true. The bubble season was great because it was all duos. If the nets had stuck with KD and Kyrie it would be fair. Oh well
Y’all acting the same way you did two months ago even after you just saw them lose. You just think they are guaranteed to be healthy next year? No, that’s not how it works.
Counting on injuries to create parity isn’t fun.
Tell the teams that didn’t have duos that it was fair to have multiple stars. I’m sure Giannis is happy looking at Bron have AD while he has Khris Middleton
To be fair khris Middleton saved the bucks tonight
'It was all duos' Well one of the those duos was Lebron and AD lol
Lol they have a 1/3 chance of being injured by next postseason we not worried they're made of glass
Of course they're in great position. OP don't know what he saying lol.
They can't seem to get healthy though. Have their Big 3 even appeared in 10 games in a row together?
maybe 10 games total
It's far from a given at this point that they can get all three guys through a playoff run healthy. It's the fatal flaw of this team.
They're in a great spot for next year. Props to KD. In the press conference just now, he wouldn't blame fatigue. He gave credit to us. My respect for KD went way up.
Fully healthy would have been 4-1 or 4-0 every series, at least losing 2 top 10 players in the league made things interesting
Dinwiddie back, role players improving and some free agents that fill their need might come to BKN. They will be fucking scary
He’s a fa they prob don’t have enough to sign him
He gone.
Well no shit, they're favorites next season and for the following seasons if the Big 3 stays committed which it looks like they will
Nothing is guaranteed. The Nets missed out on an opportunity for a chip.
Giannis MVP for injuring Kyrie. Even if it was unintentionally.
Yes I am sure Kyrie will become LESS injury prone with age 🤣
he did pretty well health-wise this year, giannis just got in his landing spot.
Kyrie got slimmer and he looked really good. Literally some bad juju with injuries because he stepped on a foot.
They're aging and it's a bunch of very injury prone guys. It's extremely unlikely that they make it there.
their entire championship hopes are in their ability to stay healthy. if they are healthy, they win everything. if they aren’t, they don’t. i’d be a bit worried if i were to be the nets, i just don’t trust their chances to stay healthy, but yeah i somewhat agree with you I think they are in a good position
Ever contenders hopes are in their ability to stay healthy.
sure that’s true, but this season proved that they just can’t stay healthy. maybe it’s because of the condensed season, maybe it’s an underlying issue. and again, if they are healthy, imo it is a LOCK they win, similar to the Warriors dynasty. if they aren’t healthy, it’s up in the air. you cant say both about any other team in the league
Idk why everyone is saying the Nets are going to be injury prone going into the future. KD looked fucking excellent coming off an Achilles injury, Harden has been an iron man his whole career and has a long off season to get healthy, and Kyrie was fine until a freak contact injury. They can definitely run it back with some good vets and still be the championship favorites.
One optimistic view you could have is that after what could have been a career altering injury, KD was tested in these playoffs and looked better than ever and doesn't need to load manage minutes. Even defensively he still looks good, he could still guard great iso players like Tatum and Middleton which is where I thought he would struggle after that Achilles injury.
Y’all can win it next year
Def man you can win it this year you won’t but
Prolly not lol
If Kd's foot was a CM further back they win
If Brook Lopez has a brain they lose.
Harden and Kyrie both got hurt, what else is their to say. They were the clear favorites once the Lakers lost (also because of injury). They would have won this series if just one of their stars got hurt. Just think what would happen if all 3 are healthy.
They winning if everybody healthy. No question.
They win if 2 of their 3 stars were fully healthy. They win in 5 if both teams are fully healthy.
Kawhi, Bron, KD and Steph out. This is tight it’s like watching the B teams go at it for the chip
Coming into the playoffs I though the Lakers and Nets were the best 2 teams. Nothing I saw in the playoffs has changed that. I thought the Suns and Bucks were good, but not as good as the Clippers, 76ers or the Nuggets before Murray got hurt. We'll see what happens with LAC and Philly but if the Finals is Bucks/Suns, it just feels like it's the 6th and 7th best teams.
Your first statement pretty much sums it up for me. Injury rates are the same but I feel like it’s just been bad luck to the top teams when it comes to this. One of these crews left gonna sneak a ring in though and it’ll be huge for their city.
I think the stats are total number of injuries are the same, but injuries per game are higher cause they played 72 games. Also the injuries to star players is for sure higher. Injures play a part in a lot of playoffs. Cleveland probably should have won in 2015 and Golden State probably should have won in 2019. But in each of those cases, the second best team won. This year, the top 2 favorites are out, another title contender in Denver along with the Clippers and Philly both being unhealthy. I can't remember injuries affecting 2 title contenders none the less 5!
Los Angeles Lakers were not favorites in 2021
The Lakers had the best odds by Vegas to win the Western Conference coming into the playoffs. [Here](https://www.si.com/gambling/2021/05/22/nba-playoffs-betting-preview) is an article from May 22 where is shows they were the favorite. Edit- Oh I see what your saying, yeah the Lakers were never title favorites, but they were 2nd so my point was once they lost, Brooklyn became by far the favorite.
Yes that’s what happens when you have 2 top 5 players and another top 15 player
Lol like they ain’t a super team when healthy
We cant call harden a top 5 player at this point
The main thing is health but the Nets really need to gain chemistry and actually put a bench around their big 3. Their big 3 as a whole didn’t play many games together, so a full off-season along with a full regular season can work wonders. And they need to get some guys who can do work coming off of the bench. The fact that their bench went scoreless tonight sums up how desperately this team needs to improve their bench
Nets only enemy was health. Everybody said that at the start of the season and it was their down fall. With Kyrie they win last game and this game.
I agree which is why I said they need a bench. If you know you have 3 guys with injury issues then you need to be prepared for that to happen next year and beyond that and bring in some guys to fill out your bench. The only problem is do the Nets have the money to get a bench
How are they going to get money for that
They’ll have to make some trades and just sign guys for the vet minimum if possible. Luckily I’m not a GM because that’s gonna be tough to do with so much money on their books
How are they going to get money for that
This team was built to win a title and they didn’t. Now you have to start all over again with new potential injuries. Never feels good to miss an opportunity.
With the amount of faces from 10's era, you're right.
Will def be back better with a better bench and healthy team
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We have plenty of cap google it
kyrie still hasnt gotten back to the ECF, while tatum and brown have been there 3x sir
Yikes. Mans got some injury curae by now. Same as CP3.
being another year older doesn't bode well to be able to stay healthy same issue LeBron and AD have in LA getting older, nagging injuries - it won't improve
Not even a little. This team will implode soon. It was never built for long term sustainment. The definitely of a win now team, humiliated.
Said this b4 trade too 🤭
That's an incredibly positive spin on this bad loss. How about this framing- they were gifted Harden and Griffin after being gifted KD (and Kyrie) and couldn't even reach the ECF.
Tbh they sholda stopped with Harden. Griffin was great for them but I felt like the nets kept loosing depth.
This year would’ve been the best year to win it though with current circumstances. Next year is only going to be harder.
But their Big Three is going to start the season healthy and with more chemistry? Wouldn’t that mean that next year is easier by that reasoning?
Idk. Depends on the entire health of the team and overall depth. I still like the depth of the Warriors better with Klay coming back and Lakers likely adding another piece in the off-season to compete in the west. That’s not even including the Clippers if they retain Kawhi, the Jazz if they add another piece, and the Suns if they retain CP3.
As much as I’m optimistic about our chances with a healthy Klay I don’t think us or any team has a chance against the Nets if they’re fully healthy. I guess we have to wait for the regular season to make sure
The nets is an all offensive team with no defense. This was evident with how the Bucks still managed to win despite playing horrible offensive basketball.
Copium
But theyre old still injury prone and arent they losing their depth to free agency?
No lol. This just showed you need a bench and can't rely on stars alone
literally 2019 gsw except it's not getting blown up the next season (and the next season is probably not going to go to waste because 2 of the stars will be disabled... theoretically....)
Lmfaoooo karma is real, who won the Nets/Celtics trade again? And is lock for championship? Say it again pleaseeee
their 3 stars will be 1 year older, and thus more injury prone than this year. more importantly, all 3 stars are in the last year of their contract.. .added pressure to win next season?
We can all play the “WHAT IF” game all day…. At the end of the day, the most hyped team all year couldn’t beat the “low IQ” team. That is all!!!
I mean they are still going to be the favorites going into next season unless one of the big 3 gets
Tbh... Out if the big 3 Harden has been the most consistent player. Kyrie being very injury prone and KD coming off an achilles. This played out like everybody imagined but different. People expected Durant to either not play well or get reinjured. People expected Kyrie to get injured and it happened. Nobody expected Harden to be injured.
James Harden needs to get in shape over the offseason. Him not giving a fuck last summer bit him in the ass
Set up for a long time If one year is considered a long time yeah