Will the Brooklyn Nets Make the Playoffs Next Season?

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The Brooklyn Nets are coming off of a very chaotic season last year in which they traded away their star players in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant. Many thought after these trades were made that the Nets would fall out of the playoff race. The Nets however, defied expectations and ended up staying in the playoff hunt as the six seed in the east. A large part of that was the phenomenal play of Mikal Bridges. Before being traded to the Nets, Bridges was averaging 17 points per game (PPG) for the Suns. In his 27 games with the Nets he ended up averaging 26 PPG. This huge jump in play for Bridges was a large part of why the Nets were so successful. The question becomes whether or not the Nets and Mikal Bridges can keep up this level of play for an entire season.

The Nets have made a few changes from the end of last season to now. They have signed both Lonnie Walker IV and Dennis Smith Jr. to contracts to help with their depth. Unfortunately the Nets no longer have Seth Curry or Joe Harris which may impact some of their depth and perimeter shooting. One of the biggest changes from last year to this year for the Nets is the supposed improvement that Ben Simmons has done behind the scenes. Simmons has openly spoken about how disappointed he has been with his play recently. He was also unhappy about how much time he missed due to injury and has since claimed that he now is feeling better than ever and is confident in his ability to play like his former self this upcoming season. With all of these changes in mind the Nets should have a successful season. There is so much talent in the east however, that it is hard to see the Nets in the playoffs. The most likely outcome for Brooklyn would be to finish as the 9 seed and fall just short of the playoffs by losing in the play-in tournament.