Kevin Durant and James Harden have been rolling as of late, but they have not been the only contributors on the Brooklyn Nets’ roster. Patty Mills and LaMarcus Aldridge have stepped up into bigger roles for this team with Joe Harris and others being out due to injuries and as a result, Brooklyn is 16-7 and has one of the better records in the NBA once again.
Not having Kyrie Irving has left a hole on this roster, but when you have two league MVPs like the Nets do, missing an All-Star like Irving is just a small problem to try and fix. Durant currently leads the league in scoring (28.6 PPG) and Harden is currently second in the league in assists per game (9.5 APG), giving the Nets everything they need to be successful.
However, the Nets offense has been vulnerable at times this season when one of their two All-Stars are not shooting well and their seven losses all make sense this season given the teams they have played.
Brooklyn has lost to the Bucks, Warriors, Hornets, Heat, Suns and Bulls twice. The one thing all of these teams have in common, other than the Heat, is that they rank inside the Top-10 in scoring and all of these teams have looked like early season championship contenders.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Nets Willing To Listen To Kyrie Irving Trade Offers — Full Details
Maybe it is a little early to call the Hornets real “championship-level threats,” but they certainly have the offense to be able to win a lot of games this season! The point is, Brooklyn has lost to some of the best teams in the league and this is because all of those teams not only outscored them, but had more overall talent.
Whereas those teams had their All-Stars or “Big 3” on the floor, Brooklyn only has Durant and Harden. This is definitely not a bad problem to have, but if this team had Kyrie Irving, we could be looking at a Brooklyn Nets team that is 20-4 or even better right now!
Having that third All-Star talent makes a huge difference for a team like the Nets and that is showing this year with Durant leading the league in scoring and Harden being right behind Chris Paul for the league-lead in assists.
If they had that third key talent, this team would be virtually impossible to stop on the offense, but right now with Irving out indefinitely, they are slightly vulnerable to teams that can put the ball in the basket at a high rate.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Nets Willing To Listen To Kyrie Irving Trade Offers — Full Details
Ultimately, whether they have Kyrie or not, this team is still proving that they can win a championship, but if the right opportunity comes their way, could the Brooklyn Nets look to trade Kyrie Irving in order to get another high-level talent to compete for a championship?
It is unlikely that Brooklyn is going to trade Irving, but they have fielded calls for him from teams across the league and the Minnesota Timberwolves could be a team interested in adding Irving to solidify their playoff spot in the Western Conference.
Let’s take a look at a trade proposal put together by Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes that not only sends Irving to Minnesota, but a familiar face back to Brooklyn.
