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After a summer full of drama with the Brooklyn Nets, Kyrie Irving is expected to return for the final year of his contract with the Nets. Not only is Kyrie returning, but Kevin Durant is as well. The Nets are finally expected to see how their big three of Irving, Durant, and Ben Simmons will play like together in Brooklyn. The Nets also got news this week that Joe Harris is 100% and will be making his full return for the 2022-23 NBA season. With that, bold predictions are starting to be made about the upcoming Nets season.
Stephen A. Smith Names Kyrie Irving Early MVP Candidate
On a September 13 episode of ESPN’s First Take Stephen A. Smith made a bold prediction about Kyrie Irving and what type of play we will see in the upcoming season.
“I got Kyrie Irving as one of my top league MVP candidates. Everybody better brace themselves… This brother is gonna put on a show!” said Smith.
The prediction isn’t that much of a reach this season. Irving spent a summer trying to find a team to partner with the Nets in trade talks, and the only team interested in dealing for Irving was the Los Angeles Lakers. So Irving does have a good amount to prove, he’s now in a contract year. The All-Star point guard now has one season to prove that he is worth the dramatic reputation that he brings.
Because Irving is in a contract year, Smith believes that the NBA better brace themselves for the level of play that Irving is going to bring to the Nets.
The cloud of drama that has been circling around Durant, Irving, and the Nets, has multiple NBA insiders believing that there will be an elevated level of play for Irving and Durant in the upcoming NBA season. Another NBA insider predicted that Durant will have an MVP-caliber season for the Nets.
Logan Murdock: Kevin Durant Will Be in the MVP Discussion
On the July 14 episode of The Real One’s podcast with Logan Murdock and Raja Bell, Murdock, who wrote a feature about KD in March, shared his prediction that Durant could have an MVP-type season for the Brooklyn Nets.
“I’m gonna have a hot take. I think next year, wherever Kevin Durant ends up, you’re going to have to put him in the MVP discussion,” Murdock said. “Because he is going to be hearing that ‘man, Jason Tatum took your lunch bro, you played like this, you did all this stuff,’ and you know all the talk that comes with him leaving Brooklyn. I think he is going to have a big year next year. I don’t know if that is going to lead to a title, but I think he is going to be in the MVP discussion.”
Murdock’s co-host, former NBA player Raja Bell commented that Durant is in the MVP conversation a lot and Murdock clarified by saying,
“No, I’m not talking about the one where you have to put him in the discussion because of the name. I think that he is going to be an on-court response from the man,” Murdock said. “The you got me f*cked up season is coming up.”
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