With Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving undergoing rehabilitation and a new head coach with the potential to travel, the Nets main goal is to bring the NBA championship trophy to Brooklyn in 2021.
Winning the 2020 title at the end of September at Disney World before there were no fans and with caretaker coach Jacques Vaughn was not their highest priority.
However, the two formats most likely to be adopted to restart this season – 20-team or 22-team events – do not dramatically change their chances.
The 22 team event – bringing six additional teams to the Mickey Mouse ball – will be very beneficial for the Nets, who are seeded seventh in the suspension game March 11.
The Scenario 22 team will exclude Nets from all types of play-in formats to make the main event 16 teams. They will be compacted in No. 7 in the East – they get with clips 30-34.
Most likely, according to sources, six additional teams will compete with the No. 2 seed. 8 of each conference in a single elimination tournament are eight teams. The top two teams will advance to the playoffs with the Nets waiting.
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The six additional teams will be invited on the basis of being in six matches from the eighth seed on March 11. Pelikan and Zion Williamson, Blazers and Carmelo Anthony, Kings, Spurs, Suns and Wizards will all go to Orlando.
The 20-team format is less friendly to the Nets opportunity to advance.
This format will be similar to the group stages of the world of soccer. Five groups of four teams – based on regular season records – will start the playoffs.
Each team will play the others in their group twice. The top two teams will advance. The four extra teams invited to Disney all came from the tougher Western Conference (Pelikan, Blazer, Kings, Spurs).
If the Nets don’t have Durant (Achilles) or Irving (shoulder), then their chances of advancing will be slim. The NBA owner will vote on Thursday’s format.
Obviously – with their super-careful approach to Durant – the Nets aren’t gung-ho about pulling all the stops to an uncertain playoff game.
Season opener is expected July 31 – and that’s 13 months since Achilles operation.
However, the Nets worried Durant’s rehabilitation was disrupted in March by locking COVID-19 right when he started playing 5-to-5 contact football with team-mates and player development coaches.
The gradual work was an important part of his rehab at that time, but the pandemic forced him to stop scrimmaging for more than two months. The Nets don’t seem to want to take the slightest risk, but the last call might be up to Durant, who would not otherwise make his Nets debut until around December 25th.
Nets President Sean Marks hints that the Nets are leaning conservatively when he said in a recent interview that he was “excited about [Durant] on the floor at Barclays in front of the fan base. ‘
The Nets are formulating a plan to return their season ticket holders for regular season matches missed at Barclays. The Knicks started returning money three weeks ago.
