The Nets are under performing so far this season and doing worse than everyone expected to do. With the acquisition of Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan and Kevin Durant. The latter not being able to play at all this season. Although this is supposed to be a warm up season for when Kevin Durant comes back for their real contention in the playoffs. They have gone 5-8 this season and Irving has had an amazing season so far and is a main candidate for MVP, he's averaging 28.5 PPG, 5.4 RPG and 7.2 APG. They are playing in one of the hardest divisions in the league with the Raptors, Celtics and 76ers all in their division, The one thing that they are doing good is that they are averaging two points per game higher than last year.
But still they have losing to not very good teams they have lost to the Suns and the Grizzles which are winnable games for a team that was in the playoffs last season. They've been outscored 4.09 points per 100 possessions, which is worse than 23 other team's. Now with injuries to Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert this team could be way worse than they are at the moment. There defense has been struggling and they rank 22nd in the league in defensive efficiency, part of this is that they allow the eighth-highest offensive rebounding rate (27.9 percent) and opponents are capitalizing on these mistakes and opponents are scoring 13.3 second-chance points per game. DeAndre Jordan's presence is rarely felt in the small rotation that they have, he was supposed to come in and be the center that they needed on defense. The Nets also hardly ever force turnover which means that they have weak on-ball pressure and the turnover percentage is 12 percent. Although the one good thing is that they still have 6.2 steals per 100 possessions.
Kyrie Irving has been their star player this season as I said earlier and he will probably take them to the playoffs this season but don't expect him to take them far in the playoffs. The Eastern Conference is shallow except for the Raptors, Bucks, Celtics and 76ers which is bad for Nets because 3 out of the 4 are in the same division and play them often which means that unlike other teams in other divisions they have to play postseason teams on a weekly basis. But the other three spots after that for the taking and the Nets will probably be one of these teams. Back to Kyrie, he is averaging 28.5 PPG and is is playing good as long as he gets healthy from a longing shoulder injury that he has had.
Lastly, the good thing for the Nets are that they are missing Kevin Durant, one of the best players in the NBA and when he is able to get back next season they will be fine, and one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference. A lot of last season's core is still there and that is a good thing. It's early in the season and they still have a lot of games left in the season and are getting back from injuries and some players have a lot more time to develop in to the players that they are supposed to be near the end of the season.
