You might’ve heard, but Kyrie Irving will return for Brooklyn Nets road games once his conditioning has improved, reportedly as early as January 5th, 2022. This will make a dramatic impact on a Brooklyn Nets team that remains the top seed in the Eastern Conference despite a slow start to the season.
Let’s examine three ways in which Kyrie’s return will shake up the Nets.
How Kyrie Irving’s return will impact the Brooklyn Nets: Smaller lineups
Kyrie Irving made the All-NBA Third Team last year and might be the second-best off-the-dribble shotmaker in the entire league (behind the three-point king himself).
His return eases the creative burden on James Harden, who has recently said that he’s struggling to balance scoring and playmaking (despite putting up robust statistics).
Irving’s return allows Harden to play pure point guard again while also reducing the number of double-teams both Harden and Kevin Durant face. Harden’s faced the third-most double-teams per game, and Durant the fifteenth-most.
Subbing Kyrie in for less threatening offensive players like De’Andre Bembry or Bruce Brown will ensure that there is no safe way to double.
The Nets should lean harder on small-ball lineups in road games with Kyrie. Brooklyn loves playing smaller, non-shooters like Bembry and Bruce Brown. While both players have their uses, subbing them out for Irving will create an offensive juggernaut.
A lineup with offseason steal Patty Mills, Irving, Joe Harris, Harden, and Durant would get crushed on the boards, but be unguardable in crunch time. If Brooklyn’s concerned about size, they can substitute Mills for Bembry, Brown, James Johnson, or Nicolas Claxton to add defense and grit.
Irving’s return unlocks coach Steve Nash’s ability to put any combination of intriguing puzzle pieces on the floor to create advantages at almost every position.
How Kyrie Irving’s return will impact the Brooklyn Nets: Reduced minutes for Harden and Durant
Durant and Harden are both in the top ten for minutes per game this season. Nash has acknowledged that this situation isn’t ideal, but he’s reluctant to field lineups that don’t have at least one superstar on the court.
Durant’s COVID-related absence has increased the burden even further on 32-year-old Harden, and both players have suffered significant injuries over the last several years.
Having more time to breathe is essential for maintaining a high level of play and reducing the risk of bumps and bruises (or worse) throughout the season.
Irving’s return will make it significantly easier for Nash to stagger minutes. He will be coming in with fresh legs, having missed the first third of the season, and he can carry the offensive load for possessions at a time even when sharing the court with his co-stars.
How Kyrie Irving’s return will impact the Brooklyn Nets: The Patty Mills conundrum
As mentioned above, Patty Mills has been a revelation this season. He’s as good, or better, than Irving as a pure catch-and-shoot artist (45.7 percent this season; Irving shot 44.7 percent last season).
He’s also one of the best in the world at sprinting around the court without the ball, something Kyrie can do at an elite level but often won’t. Not needing the ball to be effective is incredibly important when playing next to Durant and Harden.
As proven by the Nets ‘ record-setting offensive rating last season, Irving certainly fits well next to the other two stars. But while he might not be quite as good off-ball as Mills, he stresses a defense much more with the rock. Kyrie makes the Nets three-headed attack truly impossible to defend.
Irving’s return seems likely to shift Mills to the bench (making Patty a Sixth Man of the Year contender). The two will still share the court plenty, particularly in crunch time when no team can ever have enough shooting.
Lineups with four or five long-distance marksmen, including three well-rested superstars, might make the Warriors’ old “Death Lineup” look quaint by comparison.