Brooklyn Nets outside top 10 in Bleacher Report’s power rankings

Even though the Brooklyn Nets struggled to start the NBA preseason the team ended up winning its final two games, ending the preseason even. Bleacher Report re-shifted their preseason power rankings, listing the Nets just outside of the top ten.

Basketball insider Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report ranked the Nets at 11th, even after a mediocre NBA preseason. Bailey reports, “If everything goes right for the Brooklyn Nets, they can win the championship. The upside of this team is 60-plus wins and a relatively comfortable cruise through the playoffs. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are two of the best offensive players of all time. Ben Simmons is a low-usage complement who’ll feed both and can bother the opposition’s best player.”

Bailey continued:

“And surrounding those three with the kind of shooting that Seth Curry, Joe Harris, Patty Mills or Royce O’Neale can provide gives Brooklyn terrifying potential.Of course, “if everything goes right” feels like less of a given for the Nets than it does for most other teams. Between the three of them, Kyrie, KD and Simmons made just 84 appearances in 2021-22. Neither Durant nor Irving was Mr. Availability for a couple of years before then. Extended absences from two or three of the above and a bubbling over of the drama that led to a KD trade request and ultimatum this summer could have this whole thing unraveling pretty quickly.”