By Colin Lawless, Staff Writer
After the conclusion of the 2019-20 NBA season and its bubble experiment, the players of the league wanted–and deserved–a rest. Some teams, like the Lakers, finished up their season in October. The Knicks, however, had been on the couch since the beginning of the pandemic in March.
The NBA announced soon after the 2020 finals ended that the 2020-21 season would begin right before Christmas. This was the right move, with the thought being that this was the way towards regulating the timing of future seasons, something that the pandemic had threatened.
With that being said, the 2021 season has been bright thus far. The Lakers look just as dominant as they did last season, along with rivals like the Jazz and the Clippers. The East looks largely similar with a few new faces impressing.
The Hornets are making a case for the playoffs led by electrifying rookie Lamelo Ball, brother to Lonzo and son of Lavar, and new max-contract signing Gordon Hayward, who looks to be regaining some of the form that made him so sought after before his move to Boston and subsequent injury a few years ago.
The Knicks (yes, you read that right) are even showing some promise led by a few high potential rookies and more experienced players like Julius Randle who are finding their touch.
The big surprise in the East, although nobody is really surprised, is the rise of the Brooklyn Nets.
The Nets signed both Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant ahead of the 2019-20 season but were without Durant due to an achilles tear and without Irving for a while due to injury. Irving also opted out of the bubble in favor of raising awareness for the social justice issues.
This season was always going to be met with high expectations, but they became even higher when the Nets traded for James Harden in early January. Harden had been on very awkward terms with the Houston Rockets for a few months. He was vocal about his support for the trade in which they received John Wall and sent Russell Westbrook to Washington, but later said that he wasn’t really interested in playing with Wall or the rest of the team.
He was very vocal about wanting a trade, and got his wish when the Nets shipped off several first-round draft picks to the Rockets, Caris Levert and a second-round pick to the Pacers, and Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince to the Cavs. Harden found his new home in Brooklyn, reuniting with his former teammate in Durant and a new “Big 3” was formed.
While this certainly looks good on paper, their play and things behind the scenes certainly beg the question of whether or not it will work. Irving has had a few head-scratching absences, most notably one where he said, “I just didn’t want to play.” He didn’t show up to the Nets game on Jan. 7, and gave nobody an indication that that would be the case. Aside from issues off the court, they’re proving to have a lot of trouble defending the basketball.
Since the Harden trade, the Nets have averaged the most points per game in the league, while also averaging the most points allowed per game. This is no doubt due to their parting with defensive assets like Jarrett Allen, but they still have time to figure things out.
As for predictions, I’d say it’s probably too early to make any concrete ones. The easy guess for the West is to say that Lebron and the Lakers will get back to the finals for the second year running. As of today, I’m going to guess that the Nets will figure things out and advance from the East. If they can find some defensive stability, while still scoring in bunches and getting the most out of their new guys, I think we’ll have an incredibly enamoring finals in July.
