Although last season, after forming the super big three, the Nets did not play as dominant as expected, winning the championship trophy - only to reach the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs. But the new season does not hinder the confidence of the outside world in them at all, so this offseason Nets management did not break up the Big Three, but instead brought in more powerful veterans such as Mills and Millsap.
From the perspective of the overall lineup and superstar appearance: "Durant + Irving + Harden" led by the super three, coupled with the assistance of a number of powerful veterans, the Nets are indeed the most likely team in the league to successfully reach the top in the new season...
Irving was "banned" by the Nets for refusing a vaccine.
Just when the outside world is looking forward to the Nets Big Three becoming the league hegemon in the new season and playing a super dominance, Irving has made a "refusal to vaccine" incident. Judging from the epidemic prevention regulations in New York at that time, Irving could not play at home, which also meant that if Irving insisted on "rejecting the vaccine", he could only appear as a part-time player in the end and could not play at home.
I thought that even if the epidemic prevention regulations were serious, Irving, as one of the three giants of the team, the Nets should allow him to play part-time. Unexpectedly, the Nets management was very tough, neither planning to trade Irving nor planning to let him play.
"We made the decision after careful consideration: he wouldn't play or train with the team until He was fully committed. We don't allow any players on the team to participate part-time, we need to build chemistry and establish long-term values, as well as our championship goals. ”
After a third of the schedule: Irving is back, but not quite!
After Irving was "banned", a third of the new season schedule came down: the Nets relied on the combination of Durant + Harden, although they failed to play the expected dominance, but they could barely maintain the team's record in the East. It seems that even without Irving, the Nets have a great chance of reaching the Finals.
And with Irving insisting on his opinion, it seems that there is no possibility of returning to the new season. But things are always unpredictable, and the Nets, who were tough on Irving at the beginning of the season, have recently suddenly compromised with Irving.
Recently, the Nets issued a statement: "After discussions with our coaches, players and staff, the team decided to let Irving rejoin the team and participate in games or training that he can participate in." ”
That is to say, the Nets now allow Irving to return to the game. However, even if Irving is allowed to return to the season by the Nets, Irving will not be able to attend all the remaining games due to different epidemic prevention regulations in each city.
It can only appear as a "part-time player", such as the Nets home or raptors home, which are relatively strict epidemic prevention regulations, Irving is not allowed to play at all. That's why some people say, "Owen is back, but not quite." ”
The Nets' attitude at the beginning of the season — either get vaccinated or stopped playing, never allowed to play part-time; the current Nets attitude — after discussions between coaches, players and staff, Irving was allowed to appear as a "part-time player".
So why did the Nets, who had a tough attitude at the beginning of the season, suddenly give soft to Irving?
1. Looking forward to Irving's return, can reduce the burden on Durant. Before Irving was "banned", I believe many people believed that with the strength of Durant + Harden's MVP level, it was not too difficult for them to lead the Nets to break through in the East.
Who ever thought that under the influence of injuries + new regulations in the new season, Harden's overall strength will be infinitely weakened. So far this season, he has only 20.8 points, 7.9 boards and 9.6 assists, and his personal performance of shooting 40.4% from the field is far from his performance when he averaged 30+ points per game for three consecutive seasons.
It is also because of the degradation of Harden's offensive end that the Nets once fell out of the top eight in the East in the new season. If Durant hadn't forced the outbreak later, the Nets would not have been able to achieve the first record in the East.
So far this season, Durant has averaged 36.9 minutes per game, averaging 29.7 points, 7.9 boards, 5.9 assists, and 52.4% shooting percentage; and in the past four games, in order to consolidate the team's first record in the East, Durant has averaged 41.5 minutes per game, and can contribute 37.5 points, 9.0 boards, 8.5 assists, and 50.4% shooting per game.
And with the blessing of Durant's many "super god" performances, the recent Nets have indeed ushered in a wave of 4 consecutive wins, gradually stabilizing the first throne in the East. But everyone knows that Durant's Achilles tendon has been broken, and he can't always stay on the court for a long time and with high intensity, otherwise the injury will inevitably find him again.
However, in the new season, Harden's offensive state is relatively "crotch-pulling", so the Nets can only recall Irving, trying to use Irving's offensive firepower to share Durant's scoring pressure at the offensive level, so that he is no longer tired of running and reducing the probability of injury.
2. Help the team maintain the record of no. 1 in the East. During the regular season last season, due to the injury of James and Thick Eyebrows, it eventually led to the Lakers becoming seventh in the West. This also led to their first round of the playoffs against the Suns, who were second in the West at the time, and the result of the early and strong teams against the strong team was that the Lakers lacked enough time to adjust, and finally regretted being out of the first round.
Today, although the Nets are barely ranked first in the East, their record is not stable. Durant did not dare to take a break, Harden could not play superstar performance, plus Joe Harris returned to the undetermined, Ade, Brown, Bemburi, Millsap and other seven people, were quarantined for violating health and safety agreements.
At this time when no one is available, as long as Durant suffers a slight injury or a rotation, the Nets will soon usher in a losing streak and give up the first throne in the East...
3. Recall Irving, or prepare for an upcoming deal. After Irving's farce, it's not so much that the Nets didn't trade his mind, but rather that they were pressed down hard. After all, Irving only experienced a major injury last season, coupled with the uncertainty of rejecting the vaccine, which is a good reason to reduce prices. If Irving can average an efficient performance of about 25+5+5 per game after his comeback, then it will be much easier for the Nets to trade him than it is now.
In summary, the reason why the Nets were tough at the beginning of the season was because they thought that Irving would compromise and Durant + Harden could be invincible; but after a third of the schedule, Irving had no willingness to compromise arbitrarily, and Durant + Harden could not play a dominant role. In desperation, in order to "reduce Durant's burden, maintain the team's record, and prepare for the deal", the Nets can only change their attitude and choose to compromise, allowing Irving to "play part-time"...