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

1. Will their star players even be healthy?

On the surface, this is an obvious caveat. If a contending team loses one of its star players it can’t be expected to win. From Kevin Garnett and the Celtics to Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors, losing a superstar means losing out on a change at the NBA title.

At some point, we can’t keep assuming this Brooklyn Nets team will be healthy by the time the playoffs roll around. Kevin Durant has missed 32 games this season, including the last seven weeks recovering from a hamstring injury. Hopefully, that lengthy break was the result of an abundance of caution, but he is at clear risk of reinjury as his body works to compensate for the Achilles tear he suffered in the 2019 NBA Finals.

James Harden is currently on the shelf for at least a couple of weeks with a hamstring injury of his own. Kyrie Irving has missed two of the past three postseasons due to injury, even if he is currently healthy. Blake Griffin has played just 27 games this season and 18 games last season with injuries and missed the 2019 postseason due to injury as well.

At this point, we cannot assume the Nets will be healthy for the playoffs, or that they will stay even mostly healthy during the run. They have not been able to string together even five straight games with their primary rotation intact this year. Far from a fluke, this is based on years of these players dealing with injuries. If the Nets are healthy enough to make a run, that will come as a surprise at this point, not an expectation.

At the end of the day, this Nets team is loaded with talent, and could absolutely make a run at the title. Yet they are currently making that run absolutely laded with red flags, from their defense to their lack of chemistry to their health. They are the new car, the shiny jewel, the alluring tempting title pick, but in the end, they can’t be trusted as a title favorite.