“If his mind’s in the right place the Brooklyn Nets are too dangerous offensively” - Kendrick Perkins believes Kyrie Irving is the crucial piece for the Brooklyn Nets’ championship aspirations
Brooklyn Nets superstar Kyrie Irving is soon due to make his highly anticipated return to action. That has got folks all over the basketball world talking about how far the Brooklyn Nets can go this season with Irving,
On ESPN's morning show First Take, former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins talked about how dangerous the Brooklyn Nets can be with Kyrie Irving if he is fully focused. Perkins said:
"When you have that big three of Brooklyn and they are together and Kyrie's mindset is right, which we don't ever know because it is day-to-day with him, but if his mind is in the right place, the Brooklyn Nets are just too dangerous offensively. You have too much firepower."
How important is Kyrie Irving's return to the Brooklyn Nets?
With the return of Kyrie Irving, the Brooklyn Nets will have three bonafide superstars and will have their offense firing on all cylinders.
The Nets made it to last season's Eastern Conference semifinals, where they lost to the the eventual champions, the Milwaukee Bucks. It was the perfect indication of the potential that Irving, James Harden and Kevin Durant carry. The Bucks did not stand a chance with all three on the floor and needed Kyrie Irving to go down and for Harden to be hampered by injury to prevail.
Kyrie Irving's return will allow James Harden to become a quintessential point guard. The Beard can go back to being the orchestrator of the offense for the Nets. Irving can play well in the off guard position and focus on putting the ball in the net and scoring points. Harden has struggled to carry the team's scoring without Irving as the reliance on Kevin Durant has been too much in terms of scoring.
Kevin Durant, James Harden and Kyrie Irving are the 1st trio in NBA history to score 95+ points in back-to-back playoff games h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/MNGZDnYYTl
Another aspect of this is the scoring burden that will be taken off Kevin Durant's shoulders once Irving returns. It is easy to forget that KD is returning from an Achilles injury that saw him spend more than a year on the sidelines. With Irving back, the Nets can engage in load management if they want to, as Kyrie can carry out scoring responsibilities himself if needed.
Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving & James Harden were all named to the All-Star game.
This is the first time since the Nets joined the NBA in 1976-77 that they have 3 All-Star selections https://t.co/34ddNypz9x
Questions will continue to persist defensively as Kyrie Irving isn't a great defender and neither is James Harden. But offensively, with those three superstars, the Nets will be close to unstoppable.
Team chemistry is another issue that the Nets will need to solve before the NBA Playoffs begin in April. But then again, Harden, Irving and Durant have played together before, albeit almost a year ago.
Kyrie Irving's availability for home games is something that will need clarifying as the Nets will carry far more of a threat if Irving can play in Brooklyn.