Brooklyn Nets: 3 reasons they will not win the 2020-21 NBA title

2. The Brooklyn Nets offense could fall apart in the postseason

While the above statement is somewhat hyperbolic (the Brooklyn Nets will have a “good” offense no matter what) it highlights a major weakness for this team. Everyone riding the “Nets championship” train (including, it appears, the Nets’ front office) has to base their beliefs on the idea that the Nets’ porous defense doesn’t matter because their offense is so good it will overcome it.

What if their offense isn’t that good? If the Nets simply have a very good offense, and not a historically elite offense, their defensive weakness will overwhelm them and they will get launched out of the playoffs. So far this season their offense has held up their end of the bargain, most of the time. Will that change in the playoffs?

James Harden is used to being the alpha and omega of his team’s offense, a heliocentric approach that takes advantage of his gifts with the ball in his hands. This ability kept the Nets humming even while Kevin Durant was missing 32 games thus far this season. Yet historically Harden has wilted (somewhat) in the playoffs, wearing down physically and not able to exert his will to the same level.

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Kyrie Irving is used to having the ball in his hands as well. He left the Cleveland Cavaliers to lead his own offense, and during the only playoff run since he left, with the Boston Celtics in 2019, he not only forced up shots trying to “carry” his team on offense, he demanded defensive assignments he was not equipped to handle. We have to take it on faith that when games get tight in the playoffs this year he won’t try to hijack the offense. Do we have to believe he will instead run split cuts with Joe Harris?

Assuming Harden gets his shots, and Irving gets his, that doesn’t leave a lot for the team’s best player Kevin Durant. Did he leave the Golden State Warriors just to be third-fiddle to another pair of well-marketed guards? Of course he didn’t. Will he demand the ball in crunch time? If he does, what sort of effort will Irving and Harden give on defense? Will Harden even move on offense or just stand and pout near halfcourt?

Exhausted yet? Because we haven’t even mentioned the two offense-only big men the team picked up off the buyout market in Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge. Both are smart veterans who understand where to be on defense, but if the Nets truly want a defensive presence inside they will play Nic Claxton. They signed both Griffin and Aldridge to score as stretch-bigs. They outbid other teams by promising some amount of playing time and offensive touches to them both. Who are they taking shots from?

The lack of chemistry from the previous slide blossoms into the mystery of how this team will respond on the playoff stage. In the second and third rounds, when a game is tight, will this collection of personalities step up? Will the three superstars lock down defensively? Will the ball move on offense, or simply stick as these three incredible isolation scorers take turns? Even for an offense this good, the questions abound, and if they aren’t answered perfectly the Nets don’t win the title.