Predicting Nets' record after 2024-25 season schedule release

09/16/2024 05:06 PM

The Brooklyn Nets were a Kevin Durant toe away from eliminating the eventual NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks in the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals. If that phenomenal two-point tying bucket becomes a heart-stopping 3-pointer, then history looks upon the Durant-Kyrie Irving-James Harden experiment much differently.

Fast forward to the summer of 2024, and the Nets have just started their second grueling rebuild in the last decade. Construction is expected to be particularly drawn-out this go-around, as the debilitating Ben Simmons contract (making $40-plus million this season) constricts tighter around the franchise’s neck.

Although the Simmons trade was indefensible at the time, I will be the first to say that I saw potential in this team. The Mikal Bridges-led Nets made a believer out of me, so much that I predicted they would give the Philadelphia 76ers a fight in the 2023 postseason. The series ended in a sweep.

Bridges took a step back as the number one option, Simmons played in only 15 games and Nic Claxton did not take the leap many anticipated. Management was left with no choice but to admit defeat, once again, and drive the metamorphic bulldozer into the Barclays Center. More players are likely due to be shipped out, so the pain is only beginning.

Hopefully, by the end of this project, a sustainable basketball product will emerge. Brooklyn was on the verge of a breakthrough not that long ago and can claw its way back into relevancy down the road. That road does not lead to the 2024-25 campaign, however, or probably the next few that follow it.

There is still plenty to be gleaned from the upcoming schedule. We cannot look towards the distant future without pushing through the immediate future first. Let’s see what the Nets are up against this season.

Nets’ schedule is rough early on

When a team possesses arguably the thinnest roster in the league, trying to find reprieves on the schedule can be an exercise in futility. That being said, the first half of Brooklyn’s season is particularly demanding.

Although the team faces the Atlanta Hawks, Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons all within the first two weeks, it will also play the Boston Celtics, New York Knicks and a potentially rejuvenated Memphis Grizzlies squad twice each before late-November.

A three-game stretch versus the Orlando Magic, Denver Nuggets and Milwaukee Bucks, which follows the season opener against the Hawks, makes it more difficult than it already it is to start on a positive note. But if the team does not stumble then, it should in the aforementioned stretch.

The immense punishment will probably not relent when the calendar flips to 2025, if that’s what you were wondering. The Nets must do their best to avoid becoming weary travelers in January, as they embark on a six-game road trip that features Denver at the beginning and the Los Angeles Lakers and Oklahoma City Thunder at the end of it.

The Nets may not find solace back home, either, though. When they return to the Barclays Center, they will be forced to welcome in the Knicks in what is Mikal Bridges’ first game in Brooklyn since the blockbuster trade, The Phoenix Suns, Miami Heat and Sacramento Kings also roll into town. Most of those teams may not instill much fear on their own, but when grouped together right after the previously discussed road trip, this slate of competition can grind down an already beleaguered bunch.

If one were to look for a bright side within the abyss, it would be that the squad may avoid finishing last in its NBA Cup group (Charlotte Hornets).

Brooklyn will have a chance to play spoiler aplenty in March

Brooklyn has a fairly favorable February with two games each against the Houston Rockets and Washington Wizards and home matchups versus the Charlotte Hornets and Portland Trail Blazers. That is just a tease, however.

It is all too fitting that the Nets’ most manageable stretch on the schedule lies in the shortest month of the year. Any potential joy will be fleeting, as the pain ramps up again in March.

They will have two meetings each with the Boston Celtics– one of which appropriately takes place on the Ides of March–, the Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves and Indiana Pacers. The NBA is throwing the four teams from last season’s conference finals at what projects to be the worst squad in the league.

Even the supposed soft March matchups come away from home. Did Joe Tsai date Adam Silver’s sister back in the day or something? There is an upside to the rough run of competition, though. It gives rookie head coach Jordi Fernandez and his group an opportunity to possibly disrupt a playoff squad’s momentum.

Imagine the widespread panic that will ensue if BK somehow sweeps a title contender. For the Nets this season, few things will be as satisfying as forcing a fan base to completely reconsider how they view their teams. Why should Brooklyn be the only city to undergo an existential crisis?

Nets’ record in 2024-25 season

I must reiterate the importance of finding an element of this upcoming season that does not revolve around the win-loss record. Whether it be the continued development of shot-blocking machine Nic Claxton and big-time scorer Cam Thomas (22.5 points per game on 44.2 percent shooting), or the possible resurgence of Ben Simmons (Sorry, I couldn’t resist), fans need to latch onto something positive.

Unfortunately, however, I am tasked with focusing on the Nets’ record here today. In order to effectively complete such a chore, no punches can be pulled. Luckily, this franchise and its following has built up a reasonable pain tolerance after the last decade-plus. It should prove extremely useful during the 2024-25 campaign.

Mikal Bridges does not seem ideally suited to be the top guy of a playoff squad, but his departure leaves an enormous hole in terms of both production and talent. Thomas, Claxton, Cam Johnson and veterans Dennis Schroder, Dorian Finney-Smith and Bojan Bogdanovic will do their best to prevent this young group from being sucked into said hole. Those last three, maybe even four guys should not plan on being in Brooklyn past February, though.

Considering how the organization is currently operating, a main priority is nurturing the growth of fledglings like Noah Clowney, Dariq Whitehead, Ziaire Williams and free agent signing Killian Hayes. Completing that objective can save the Nets some time on their rebuild.

But it will not do them many favors during the regular season. Growing pains and shooting woes are doomed to ravage this squad in the standings. The schedule will also wear the franchise down at various times, leaving Brooklyn trapped in the Eastern Conference basement with the Wizards.

Final record: 21-61

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