14. Brooklyn Nets
Marquee summer move: Acquiring Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving
Don’t get used to seeing the Brooklyn Nets ranked this low because I’m not sure if we’ll ever see it again for the foreseeable future. The only reason why they’re coming in at No. 14 is that there is just so much unknown surrounding this team right now. Though, most of those questions should be answered sooner rather than later.
We probably won’t see Kevin Durant in a Nets uniform until the 2020-21 season, but Kyrie Irving should be enough of an upgrade for the team this season for the Nets to make some real noise in the Eastern Conference.
The hope is that he can gel with this team’s young core a bit better than he did with the Celtics. Much like in Boston, this young core has some experience in terms of success. Brooklyn surprisingly made a return to the playoffs last season and battled with the Sixers in the first round. The future is bright in Brooklyn.