Brooklyn Nets: Starting lineup, rotation after the James Harden trade

Is Kyrie Irving coming back?

The Brooklyn Nets were supposed to be a two-star team-up this season, and through the first two weeks of the season were exactly that. Kyrie Irving was balling out, pouring it in on offense and even seeming to care on defense. We picked him to start for the Eastern Conference in our way-to–early All-Star picks earlier this week.

Then a week ago Irving disappeared, and he hasn’t been with the team since. There are plenty of rumors about what Irving is doing and why he isn’t playing, ranking from a political response to a family crisis. Thankfully it’s not another major injury, of which Irving has had several, and he could presumably continue playing at a high level when he returns. The question unfortunately is now “if” he is coming back, a question head coach Steve Nash tried to avoid answering the other night.

Irving has a track record as a mercurial person who moves to the beat of his own drum. Whatever is going on, Irving may not be back with the team this season. If so, Harden provides a great replacement, albeit at the cost of much of this team’s depth.

If Irving does return, he would bump Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot out of the starting lineup. Irving has the skillset to play off-ball, and ideally, he and Harden would strike a balance similar to Harden and Chris Paul in Houston a few years ago. Stagger the two, coax Irving into off-ball actions, and try to thread the needle of maximizing their talent as scorers without settling into “my turn, your turn” basketball.

Who can the Nets sign to fill in the holes?

By trading four players to bring back one, the Brooklyn Nets have some holes to fill. Given that Spencer Dinwiddie is out for the year and Irving is away from the team, the Nets need to fill at least one or two of those slots with players who can contribute now.

At least one of those slots has to be a traditional center unless the Nets are ready to embrace a wholesale small ball adjustment. Dewayne Dedmon is probably the best option still on the market, but players such as Ian Mahinmi, Marvin Williams and John Henson are out there as well.

This team could also use another wing option. Old friends Dzanan Musa and Allen Crabbe are unsigned, and Dion Waiters could give them shot creation in Irving’s absence. Traveon Graham is a defensive option on the wing as well.

There is no silver bullet out there on the free agent market to elevate this team, although the buyout market could be a strong possibility later in the year. As a team likely to have minutes to dole out, they would be an attractive landing spot for a player — Cody Zeller, perhaps, or Thaddeus Young.

For now, this team mostly has to stick with what they have; which at its core is two, perhaps three, All-NBA players with sky-high offensive gifts.