New champion among 10 bold predictions for 2019-20 NBA season

9. Brooklyn will be in the playoffs for the second straight season

One of the more notable free agency headlines that took place this summer was the LA Clippers signing Kawhi Leonard and trading for Paul George and rightfully so, as the Clippers now have a pair of players who can get it done at both ends of the floor.

However, the Brooklyn Nets had a respectable offseason as well. Not only did they land Kevin Durant in a sign-and-trade deal with the Golden State Warriors, the Nets also replaced D’Angelo Russell with Kyrie Irving and signed DeAndre Jordan.

Another notable move the Nets made during the offseason was sending Allan Crabbe, along with the No. 17 overall pick to the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Taurean Prince and a 2021 second-round pick. Prince averaged 13.5 points per contest for the Hawks last season and shot 39.5 percent from 3-point range.

On paper, Irving is an upgrade at the point guard spot as he posted better numbers than his counterpart in scoring (23.8 vs. 21.1), rebounding (5.0 vs. 3.9) overall shooting percentage (48.7 vs. 43.4) and 3-point shooting efficiency (40.1 to 36.9). The question is whether Irving can be a better leader for the Nets than he was during this two-year run with the Boston Celtics.

Prior to last season, the Nets hadn’t made it to the playoffs since 2014-15. With these additions, not only have the Nets positioned themselves for another playoff berth next season, they are also on course to become perennial contenders once Durant makes his eventual return to the court.