3 NBA teams that could win their first championship in franchise history in the 2021-22 season
The upcoming 2021-22 NBA season will provide a new window of opportunity for individual players and teams alike. From star players getting their opportunity to win another regular season MVP, to winning their first Defensive Player of the Year award or their sole NBA championship, many individuals are waiting for the start of the 75th NBA season.
Similarly, teams are hoping that this will be their season of success. The Golden State Warriors would like to get back to winning ways of the last decade once Klay Thompson returns to bolster their ranks. Likewise, the LA Lakers, with the addition of Russell Westbrook, will be hoping to go one better than the Boston Celtics as the team with the most NBA titles by the end of the season. Both franchises have 17 NBA championships to go against their respective names.
However, there are still a few teams waiting to get their first taste of NBA championship success. These teams have reached as far as the NBA Finals, but have never managed to get their hands around the coveted Larry O’Brien trophy. We take a look at three such teams for whom the 2021-22 season would provide the ideal opportunity to win their first NBA title.
#1 Brooklyn Nets
The Brooklyn Nets are heavily favored to win the 2021-22 NBA season, according to the league’s annual GM survey, the results for which were released last week. This would give the Nets their first title in their 45-year NBA history. Remember, the Nets came into the NBA after the American Basketball Association’s (ABA) merger with the league in 1976. Since then, the Nets have won two Conference titles in back-to-back years in 2002 and 2003, but lost both Finals, to the Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs respectively.
The reason the league GMs are so optimistic about the Nets’ chances are because they have among the best talent in the NBA headlining their roster. Kevin Durant, James Harden, Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge make for a terrific combination of players, with Durant currently widely regarded as the best player in the world. And even though Kyrie Irving won't be joining the Nets until he's fully available, the franchise still has sufficient firepower to win it all.
Just last season, Durant singlehandedly managed to push the Milwaukee Bucks to a seven-game series in the 2021 Eastern Conference semifinals, despite Harden and Irving not being fully available for the series due to health reasons. Now with some significant additions to the roster (Aldridge, Patty Mills and Paul Millsap) in the offseason, and Harden appearing fully fit, this might be the year when the Nets finally end their NBA title drought.