The Brooklyn Nets are shaping up to be one of if not the best teams in the entire NBA next season. They currently sit atop of the league with the best odds to bring home the NBA championship.
As a result of this, they have a massive target on their backs and teams will be taking every chance they can get to knock them off their throne.
The Brooklyn Nets are coming into the season as one of the best teams in the league. With this, they have a few teams they will be creating rivalries with.
There is one team from each conference that will be huge rivals to the Nets next season. Some honorable mentions for these spots are the New York Knicks and Philadelphia 76ers.
Eastern Conference: Milwaukee Bucks
The Nets’ biggest rival in the Eastern Conference this season is the team that eliminated them from the second round of the playoffs last season. That team, of course being the Milwaukee Bucks.
After knocking off the Nets in the second round, the Bucks took down the Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference Finals, then the Phoenix Suns in the NBA Finals.
The Bucks, just like the Nets have a huge target on their backs this season as they are the reigning champions. Both rosters are star studded and it is very likely that the two will be facing off against each other in the Eastern Conference Finals this season as long as the seeding lines up to make it possible.
In the playoffs last season, things got a bit chippy between the two teams. With P.J. Tucker no longer being a member of the Bucks, there will be a little bit of fire and feistiness lost on Milwaukee’s side.
However, with an emotional leader like Giannis Antetokounmpo at the helm of the Bucks, there will be no love lost between the two teams. Especially when the stakes are higher later in the year.
The two teams will be opening the season against each other. While there will likely not be any major scuffles between the two teams in this matchup, it will definitely be something to keep an eye out for as the season progresses.
Western Conference: Los Angeles Lakers
The Brooklyn Nets’ biggest rival out of the Western Conference is the Los Angeles Lakers.
There is a lot of bad blood between these two teams from former endeavors and shots that have been taken at each other in the media.
The main rivalries between players to keep an eye out for are Kyrie Irving vs LeBron James and Russell Westbrook/LeBron James vs Kevin Durant.
If these two teams meet up in the Finals, it would be one of the most interesting series we have seen in years from a narrative perspective. However, if either the Nets or the Lakers are not able to make it to the Finals, it will be a huge missed opportunity and this rivalry will fall flat on its face for a second consecutive season.