The Brooklyn Nets fell short of winning it all last season amid their powerhouse crew led by Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. In this post, though, we will be looking at the Nets X Factor for the 2021-22 NBA season.

There were a lot of factors that came into play such as injuries, unfamiliarity, lack of depth, among others. Whatever the case may be, the Nets tried their best to address these weaknesses with a few roster tweaks. Perhaps the most notable addition is that of Patty Mills, the 33-year-old veteran most known for his stint with the San Antonio Spurs.

Nets X Factor 

There's a good reason why Nets fans celebrated the Australian's signing. Let's discuss why Mills will be the X-Factor for the 2021-22 NBA season for the Nets.

Mills solves a lot of the Nets' problems. As for one, the team will no longer suffer if Kyrie Irving were to miss several games. For all of Irving's offensive exploits, the seven-time All-Star is actually injury prone. He's never played an entire regular season in his career. In all of his stints, in Cleveland, Boston, and now in Brooklyn, Irving has even missed significant playoff time due to injuries. And there's always that threat that Irving decides not to suit up due to some personal issues.

We're not saying that Mills is a Kyrie clone. Mills is a player of his own making. While his career-best is 11.6 points per game, Mills is one of those players who can explode for 20 or 30 points out of the blue. He gets most of his points from deep as he's a career 38.8 percent shooter. When you have a player like Durant who attracts all sorts of attention, a player like Mills is imperative.

Another underrated thing in Mills' game is his playmaking ability. Yes, he's just averaging 2.3 assists per game for his career. But as mentioned, Mills' value isn't measured by numbers. For those who have been watching him closely, Mills is very good in pick-and-roll situations. And being good in this play doesn't necessarily translate to assists right away. The Australian guard likes to play within a system. And this involves a lot of patience, lots of ball movement, with hopes of locating the wide-open man. Given that the Nets have tons of weapons at their disposal, this facet in Mills' game will be very useful.

However, it's not just these things why the Nets won the free agent lottery. Mills will bring all sorts of intangibles with him. We cannot ignore the fact that he played for Gregg Popovich for 10 seasons. He has a wealth of knowledge right at his disposal. And these will be shared with utmost generosity with the entire Nets squad.

As such, Mills will be the Nets' X-Factor not necessarily because he'll drop 50 points out of the blue. What he'll provide is that stability and leadership night in and night out. If you're a lifelong NBA fan, you know that championship-caliber teams have that one lone veteran who's always on the ear of his teammates, even its superstars. Mills will likely be that player for head coach Steve Nash.

All in all, the Nets have a better shot at the title this year compared to the last. We can say that they were testing the waters last season. Indeed, the roster needed a bit more tweaking. If the Nets do win it all this 2021-22 NBA season, ample credit should be given to Mills. It's why he's the Nets X Factor for the upcoming voyage.