3 reasons the Brooklyn Nets can win over 28.5 games in 2018-19

2. Internal improvements

Having youngsters of varying skill-sets is certainly a bonus, but they also have to be good basketball players. Just saying a team has a lot of young guys doesn’t always amount to improvements from year to year.

So while having depth in the form of whippersnappers is promising, it doesn’t always amount to improvement. This might seem like a “no duh” type of observation, but more young guys plateau or decline than improve over time.

Crabbe had a solid season in his first go-around with the Nets, but it wasn’t eye-opening by any means. LeVert exhibited jack-of-all-trades potential, but will he end up being a master of none? Can Dinwiddie learn to play off the ball, or is he strictly a table-setter? Can Hollis-Jefferson at least become a threat behind the arc, or is he just a Draymond Green-lite?

For this team to truly compete in the back end of the Eastern Conference playoff bracket, it will need its youth to improve too. After all, three of the Nets’ projected starters combine for seven years of NBA experience. With that being said, it seems like a safe bet under Atkinson’s coaching regimen, at least in order to win at least one more game than last year.