1. Brooklyn Nets
Best finish: NBA finalist (two times)
Iconic player(s): Jason Kidd, Julius Erving, Vince Carter
Championship outlook: Excellent
There might be some push-back with ranking the Brooklyn Nets as the best franchise to never win a title, but hear me out – they’ve been to the NBA Finals twice and over the past few years have put together a strong front-office team that has this team on the verge of contention once again.
After signing Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving last summer, the Nets will be contenders in the Eastern Conference in 2020-21, assuming health. It’s too early to predict if they are on the same level as the Milwaukee Bucks in the East, but there’s no question that Brooklyn is close.
There’s a chance that the Nets win an NBA Championship in the next five years and as long as they have Durant and Kyrie on the roster, they’re going to be a factor in the Eastern Conference. Can they pull it off, though? Time will tell.