Did Philly just hand Brooklyn the keys to the title?

[liam]

The Nets seem to be the favorite every year but nothing happened yet...

[Ogaju]

wait is this serious?

no, trading the Nets a guy who hasn't played since the time he had an epic playoff choke on national television almost a year ago is not "handing Brooklyn the keys to the title"

Not playing simply makes him fresh

He did not choke, he passed the ball to a teammate

He was not the only player traded in the deal…

[celticsclay]

With good health, I think they did. Curry is absolutely huge and the perfect player for them. I am worried about ben simmons being able to play this season though because he definitely didn’t make a mockery of people with real mental health issues and has a serious issue that may trouble him the rest of his life.

[Who]

I like the look of both of these teams more than I like Milwaukee. I got Bucks 3rd behind these guys. Miami 4th. Boston 5th. Bulls 6th. Raptors 7th. Cavs 9th. Hornets 9th. Hawks 10th.

I see the top 4 as title contenders. Not Boston - offense isn't good enough.

[Celtics2021]

Are the Nets even going to avoid the play-in game?  Durant is still out, and Simmons probably isn’t going to be ready immediately.  Kyrie is still missing games in NY.   They could be 3-4 games behind the C’s and Raps with 20 games to play.

Sure, they could get through the play-in round, but if those games are in NY and the vaccine mandate still in effect, they won’t have Kyrie for those games.

I do think they’ll be a lot better off next year.  This year, they’ve played themselves into a bad position.

[SparzWizard]

I think the Nets handed the keys to the 76ers for the title.

[RJ87]

wait is this serious?

no, trading the Nets a guy who hasn't played since the time he had an epic playoff choke on national television almost a year ago is not "handing Brooklyn the keys to the title"

Not playing simply makes him fresh

He did not choke, he passed the ball to a teammate

He was not the only player traded in the deal…

Lol... fresh.

And he choked. He passed a wide open layup to give a worse offensive player a jumper. Which he did because he was afraid they'd foul him. It was the moment his team, his coach, and an entire fanbase lost faith in him. He's a young player though, he has time to get back on track. But let's not retcon what happened.

As far as the Nets, their second best player is still a part timer, and even when he can play, you never know when he'll take off for a week or two for personal reasons. KD can fix a lot, but Kyrie's availability will decide how far they really go.

[nickagneta]

Still think Milwaukee is the team to beat. I really like the Ibaka pick up for them.

[PhoSita]

I would feel comfortable picking the Bucks except for the Brook Lopez situation

[liam]

I would feel comfortable picking the Bucks except for the Brook Lopez situation

They picked up Ibaka...

[hodgy03038]

I actually think Philly improves tremendously and more than Brooklyn at least this year. Philly will miss Curry but now with Harden between he and Embid they will probably shoot 40 free throws a game between them.

[liam]

Still think Milwaukee is the team to beat. I really like the Ibaka pick up for them.

He's looking really good the last few times I've seen him.

[CelticSooner]

Durant and Kyrie (if he plays) will hate playing with Simmons. His willingness to be passive will make their jobs harder. Nets just traded away a top 10 player for peanuts in my eyes.

[Who]

Still think Milwaukee is the team to beat. I really like the Ibaka pick up for them.

I missed that. Ibaka is a nice pickup for them. Not enough for me to put them over the Nets or 76ers but a good move.

[Rosco917]

In Brooklyn Kyrie Irving is well able to play off-ball. (If he actually plays every remaining game) With Simmons as PG the team defense gets one heck of a bump, along with over-all passing. Not to mention KD and Irving both miss games to manage minutes, they should be fresh in the playoffs.

In Philly the team is leading their division without Simmons. Embiid is a real top 3 or 4 NBA talent, add in Harden who is able to play facilitator or another scoring option.

Yeah, with good health both teams have improved.