When the NBA Restart happens at the end of this month it’ll also mark thirteen months since the Brooklyn Nets scooped one of the most monumental days in the franchise’s history. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving (and DeAndre Jordan too, sure) agreed to sign with the team in free agency. It was the culmination of a whole lot of positive work from Sean Marks and Kenny Atkinson and all them and it was also the end of a chapter. The end of a book, perhaps. It was the point in Lord of the Rings when Frodo agrees to take the ring to Mordor and suddenly the whole quest has changed in an instant, from humble hobbit beginnings to gargantuan world-altering stakes in an instant like that.

Yet thirteen months later it’s like Frodo just sat up in Rivendell the whole time working on his fitness and training with the elves while the rest of the fellowship sorta went through the motions and Samwise started talking about his third eye on instagram and in the midst of all that Gandalf got sacked and now they’re down a wizard and just waiting for next year.

This isn’t going to be a piece about the long-term vision of the Brooklyn Nets in this new superstar incarnation of the team. There’s been a few of those articles written already by yours truly, the most recent being when Kenny Atkinson got the flick – probably the most controversial moment of Sean Marks’ GM-ship but at least it removed the conflict between past and present as the Nets try to bridge the gap between a goodwill rebuilding team and an actual contender. You can’t do that without a superstar or two (or three) and with superstar players comes a different way of operating.

Instead this is just a glimpse at the odd situation that the Brooklyn Nets find themselves in as they prepare to finish off this 2019-20 season in the NBA Bubble in Orlando. Kevin Durant was already injured when they signed him and it was understood he wouldn’t play this first season. So this first season was always therefore a bit of a throwaway campaign, there to prepare things for a contending effort next time. The Nets would probably have been happy to can the season at the moment the pandemic halted things, they don’t particularly care about seeing out a term in which they were probably going to be knocked out in the first round of the playoffs. Particularly after Kyrie Irving missed all but twenty games and went in for shoulder surgery earlier in the year. But the NBA needs the money too much so everyone’s amassed at the Disney World Resort to play some basketball. It’s possible that those two could have rushed back for the Orlando Project... but what would be the point? This was always designed as a gap year for the Nets so the priority has to be getting those two key players fully ready for next season.

By the way, Kyrie Irving has copped it during this maiden Nets season. He cops it regardless of where he goes, partly because he’s a guy whose weirdness and aloofness are mistaken for something sinister, partly because he doesn’t always know when to shut his mouth, partly because of collateral damage from his Cavs and Celtics days. Good, bad, and ugly. Irving scored 50 on his Nets debut and averaged 27.4 points, 6.4 assists & 5.2 rebounds in his 20 games, shooting 47.8% from the field and 39.4% from deep. Very reasonable numbers there... yet the Nets were 8-12 in the games he played and 22-22 without him.

Irving’s ball dominance did not make the team better despite his personal numbers and his leadership off the court was found wanting on a couple occasions (not to say he can’t be a positive leader, but listing teammates back in January was undeniably a mistake – he’s admitted as much). What I will say about that is this was never the intended version of this team. Irving is supposed to be playing next to Kevin Durant. KD is the best player on this team. A lot of these dramas involving the Kyrie-Nets are irrelevant because when things actually matter ol’ Kyrie is not going to be that version of himself and the Nets are not going to be that version of themselves either. Worrying about that is like worrying about losing preseason games.

The Nets headed into the bubble with a 30-34 record which ain’t great but it was good enough to see them sitting seventh in the Eastern Conference. They’ll get eight games to try and hold off any challengers in Orlando to stay in that seventh seed, with the sixth seed 76ers already out of reach. The ninth-seed Washington Wizards are six wins behind the Nets so it’s almost harder to miss the playoffs then to make them from this point but it’s worth pointing out that the Orlando Magic are only half a game behind the Nets in eighth and if the Nets do drop to eight and whoever ends up ninth gets within four games of eighth then those two teams take part in a play-in series for that final playoff spot (to make up for the four or so games that the average team will have missed out from their intended 82 games).

Thing is, the eighth seed almost certainly plays the Milwaukee Bucks. The NBA Bubble Playoffs are going to throw up some very strange circumstances and there are always a few upsets even at the best of times but somehow I doubt the Bucks will have any trouble with the Brooklyn Nets (minus Durant and Irving), the Orlando Magic (full roster but let’s be honest), or the Washington Wizards (minus Bradley Beal).

But it’s more than that for the Brooklyn Nets. If they were only without Durant and Irving then they were in the same space that they’ve been in for most of the season. They’re also without a head coach at the moment with Jacque Vaughn still in place as an interim boss. Vaughn and Sean Marks go way back to when they were both at the San Antonio Spurs a decade ago, Marks as an executive and Vaughn as an assistant coach. There have been whispers that Jacque Vaughn is a decent contender to get the job on a permanent basis, he’s 2-0 since taking over from Atkinson, although if he’s gonna push his case at Disney World then he’s got his work cut out because this current Nets roster... woah boy. Just have a look at this...

• Kevin Durant remains out with that long term Achilles injury

• Kyrie Irving is still recovering from shoulder surgery

• Spencer Dinwiddie withdrew from contention after twice testing positive for coronavirus

• Taurean Prince is also out for pandemic reasons

• Wilson Chandler and DeAndre Jordan both opted out (DAJ after a positive test)

• Nic Claxton is also still recovering from shoulder surgery

• Michael Beasley was signed to fill out the numbers only to also withdraw after a positive coronavirus test

Add that all together and it’s not a pretty sight. Marksy and mates have had to scramble to find additional players simply to fill out a roster... and even still they’ve got the second smallest roster of all the teams in Orlando – only Portland have fewer players in the bubble but that’s with all their top dudes other than Trevor Ariza. The Nets have fourteen players, of which only Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, Jarrett Allen, and Garrett Temple remain from the preferred 10-man rotation that they began the season with.

This is what the roster looks like:

Jarrett Allen, Justin Anderson, Chris Chiozza, Jamal Crawford, Donta Hall, Joe Harris, Tyler Johnson, Rodions Kurucs, Caris LeVert, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Jeremiah Martin, Dzanan Musa, Garrett Temple, Lance Thomas

There are only four players in that group who have played 700+ mins for the Nets this season. Six who have played 500+ mins. Ten who have played any minutes at all for the Nets this season. And four who have been signed out of the G-League or free agency to make up the numbers. Their pair of two-way players (Chiozza and Martin) are both there. They also sneakily picked up Tyler Johnson after he was waived by the Suns back in February which is brilliant because back in 2016 TJ was a dude that the Nets made a big play at when he was a restricted free agent. Remember the poison pill deals that Sean Marks specialised in that first free agency of his? Well, Johnson was one of them with the Miami Heat matching that back-ended $50mill deal only to trade him two and a half into the four year contract which is only now supposed to be coming to an end. Portland did the same thing to keep hold of Allen Crabbe and he still ended up on the Nets down the line (he wasn’t great though and was traded to the Hawks a year ago – Crabbe most recently played for the Timberwolves but isn’t on a bubble roster) and how Johnson has done the same. Sean Marks yet again gets the last laugh. Johnson had a lot of injuries with the Suns but was always a productive player with the Heat so he’s a nice addition here.

Also on board is the veteran scoring presence of Jamal Crawford who hasn’t played at all this season yet but the 40 year old still knows how to put the ball in the bucket. A big eight games plus playoffs (or play-ins) could put him into the top 50 all-time NBA scorers. It’s not a perfect signing, he won’t be the fella he was winning sixth man of the year of the Clippers a while back, but it’s as good as they coulda hoped for under the circumstances.

One major positive of all this: Jarrett Bell. The ascendency of the young centre, who Brooklyn drafted themselves, had been beautiful to watch over the last couple seasons so it didn’t make a lot of sense why DeAndre Jordan was brought into the fold other than that he was a package deal to get KD+Kyrie over the line. Then when that superstarpower seemingly got Kenny Atkinson sacked it was notable that DeAndre Jordan was immediately thrust in to start ahead of Allen for the two games that Jacque Vaughn’s been in charge for so far. But Jordan isn’t there in Orlando. Allen’s got an open road ahead of him. Similar stakes for Caris LeVert who is a legit excellent player who will have to settle for being the underrated third-option (at best) when the Nets are at full capacity next season but here’s his chance to show what he can do. A broken foot last season disrupted his rise and he’s missed a bit of time with a thumb injury this campaign too but here’s his chance to shine. Get on it.

Overall though there’s not a lot to gain from this Disney excursion for the Brooklyn Nets. A few fascinating player situations and a coach auditioning for a full-time gig along with unexpected opportunities for fringe fellas and two-way players are nice but it’s unlikely they make any waves in the playoffs. Like, hiiiighly unlikely. Just look at that roster again. Ordinarily an article like this would throw out a hopeful note to end on but literally there’s just not a lot to gain here. That’s the tweet, it is what it is. Should still be fun though.

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