Can Nets ‘shock the world?’

While NBA pundits and others, including fans of the New York Knicks, either ignore the Brooklyn Nets or alternatively dismiss any chances of success, the players and their coaches legitimately believe they can, as Julius Randle said, “shock the world.” Some might roll their eyes at that prediction or the more specific one that Brooklyn can win 50 games this season and think it’s ill-conceived optimism at best, maybe a casual comment at the least. It is not. It’s the driving force, the mantra, for the youngest roster in the NBA at 24.3 years of age. They believe it!

Now that Las Vegas sportsbooks put their season win total at 24.5, only four more than last season, and ESPN predicted they’d win 18 games, two fewer than last season, the reporters who cover the team day in and day out have their opportunity. The New York Post’s Brian Lewis and the New York Daily News’s C.J. Holmes published their season previews this weekend, the Post as part of a 20-page NBA supplement dominated by their take on whether Jalen Brunson and his Knicks can repeat. We should have ND’s annual reporter’s roundtable ready to go before Wednesday night’s opener at Barclays Center.

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In general, Lewis and Holmes are not as pessimistic as the national writers, but no where near as optimistic as the Nets players. In different ways, they look at a 30-win season as something reasonable.

For Lewis, the more intriguing questions are how much further will the team travel on its path to contention … and what the roster looks like after 3:15 p.m., Eastern time on February 11, the trade deadline.

He recites what Sean Marks said back on Media Day on September 28,

“Yeah, it’s exciting that we’ve been able to add this youth to this team, watch these guys develop,” the Nets GM for the last decade said. “We’ve always said over the course of the last couple of years, we’re looking for the next Nets. Who are those guys? So we have a training camp and another year to figure this out as we build.

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“We’ve kept flexibility over the last couple of years and know that we’re poised when the time is right. [It’s about] having a foundation….

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/nets-shock-world-210520272.html

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Publish date : 2026-10-18 21:05:00

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