Getty Kyrie Irving #11 of the Brooklyn Nets tries to keep the ball from James Harden #1 of the Philadelphia 76ers .
Initially, many people deemed both the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers winners of the blockbuster trade that swapped franchise players James Harden and Ben Simmons. Both stars were disgruntled in their current situations and filled a need of the respective team to which they were traded.
But the reality is that the Nets haven’t gotten as much bang for their buck as they would have liked from the assets they were able to recoup in the deal.
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Insider Says Nets, Sixers Have Equal Title Chances
Ben Simmons has yet to play a regular-season game for the Nets after a back injury that required him to have off-season surgery in May sidelined him for the remainder of the 2021-22 season. Though Seth Curry did suit up last season, he had an ankle injury before he arrived in Brooklyn, which limited him during the season and ultimately required offseason surgery as well. And Andre Drummond left in free agency to join the Chicago Bulls.
But despite the Nets’ lack of success in the Ben Simmons era, NBA insider Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson of Bally Sports believes that the Nets and Sixers have an equal shot at winning this year’s championship.
“Do I think the Nets can win a championship? Yeah, they can. But it is an 82-game season and there are a lot of peaks and valleys and ebbs and flows as to what goes on,” Robinson said on Sports Illustrated’s “The Fast Break Podcast” with Brett Siegel.
“And I think over the last couple of years, the Nets and the Sixers have both been the favorite… I do think the Nets have a chance just as much as the other teams I named.”
Robinson, Siegel Expect Dubs To Move Past Draymond Drama
The Golden State Warriors had a relatively quiet summer after winning their fourth NBA title since 2015 last season. Outside of very few murmurs surrounding a reunion with former Warriors star, Kevin Durant, the offseason drama in the Bay was kept at a minimum.
That all changed when Warriors teammates Draymond Green and Jordan Poole got into a Physical altercation at Warriors practice. To make matters worse, the video of the altercation was leaked to the press. Though the Warriors’ situation is unprecedented, Robinson expects them to rise above the turmoil.
“I think they are going to work it out. I think they are going to work it out because they are the defending champions and also because they’ve seen this before but not like that,” Robinson said.
“You saw KD [Kevin Durant] and Draymond got into it, but we never saw what they were like in practice. The difference here is that the tape was released. Prior to that, we only heard from urban legend.”
Brett Siegel agreed that the Warriors and their championship DNA will find a way to move on from the situation.
“I completely agree with you. I think that the Warriors are going to move on from this because that is who they are as an organization. They’ve always seen conflict and they’ve always had a solution for it. These guys like Curry, Klay, Draymond, even Wiggins, you have Iguodala. They are a veteran group and know how to move on from things like this,” he said.
Buckle up NBA fans, the 2022-23 season is already shaping up to be a good one.