cl2117 wrote:What's with all this pessimistic bullsh*t?
Jayson Tatum, in my opinion, is one of the top 5 players you'd choose to build you team around and we have him signed through 2026. Jaylen Brown has played better than Tatum to start this season and is signed to a bargain of a deal through 2024 and pairs excellently with Tatum.
We already have Kemba on the roster who when healthy can be the third star. It's a big when/if, but we've already see him gel with our other two stars and contribute on the same level or better than Kyrie. Smart is locked into one of the best value deals in the league. We've got 5 solid guys on rookie deals with multiple years left (Timelord, Grant, Romeo, Nesmith, Pritchard) and own all of our own future picks to leverage in trades. There is not a single bad contract on the roster (assuming health for Kemba). We have multiple guys who could breakout at some point and the largest TPE in league history to go out and add to them all.
We've got one of the best GM's in the league and one of the best coaches, both committed long-term.
We have missed the playoffs once in the last 13 years and aren't likely to miss it again for a decade plus while perennially being in the discussion as potential contenders.
Even after this Nets trade, the East is wide open to be taken. Raptors are crashing, Bucks have built poorly around Giannis and Sixers are committing to Simmons/Embiid flawed duo. Miami is no juggernaut. Hawks overcommitted and the Pacers don't have star power. Rest of the conference is trash.
Brooklyn is set up as a ticking timebomb with 3 guys who each have their own issues. Kyrie is a headcase who will be a cancer for them at some point (potentially right out of the gate), Durant is coming off an achilles injury and despite looking really good will still be a question long-term and Harden literally just pushed his way out of a contract with multiple years left. They have ZERO depth and just mortgaged all future assets for a guy who along with their other stars will all be able to be unrestricted FA's in 2 years time and ALL have bailed on their teams recently.
We are still in one of the best positions for now AND the future of any team in the league. The games don't get played on paper for a reason and it's because this league is nuts and despite being predictable it's somehow also entirely not at the same time. Everyone expected the Clippers to roll last year and no one expected Miami out of the East. We've got blue chip pieces and a roster packed with young talent and still avenues to get better year on year.
Get some perspective people, this is a great train to be on, enjoy the ride.
I am pessimistic because we had team Lebron coming out of the east 8 seasons in a row and we knew this before the seasons even started. For two years there was some unknowns in the east with the Raps winning and Miami making an improbable finals run.
Now the east is back to 2010-2018 all over again where, unless the Nets have some catastrophic injuries, Brooklyn could come out of the east for the next several years. I don't think it will be an 8 year run like team Lebron had but it could be 3 or 4. The only thing they people can hope for is that this implodes. Worse case is Irving stays AWAL and the Nets are as good as the Lakers were last year, best case is he plays and they are the Warriors during their run.
Tatum, Brown are good and maybe Walker as well if he is healthy but the nets have elite talent. Durant and Harden are top 5 players and Irving is a top 5 PG in the NBA. Yeah they don't have much depth as I type this (Lakers didn't either and they won last year) but some ring chasers will sign there for free.
It is just very disheartening when it finally looks like there was some semblance of uncertainty in the east then this happens.