NBA Atlantic

After a tumultuous offseason, Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving reportedly made an effort to bring his team closer together.

Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium reported that Irving "set up a team dinner for the entire Nets roster" on Oct. 8 that was also attended by "other franchise officials" to serve as a "team bonding experience."

https://twitter.com/TheRally/status/1582849269467271169

"I think Kyrie Irving spearheading that and being the one to coordinate that goes a long way in terms of leadership and also what he's tried to set forth this offseason with a lot of the instability that's occurred," Charania said. "But now, it finally looks somewhat stable going into the season, and the Nets should be primed for a good season."

The team-building outing comes after Irving received substantial attention this offseason for multiple reasons. He was the subject of rampant trade speculation after reportedly receiving permission to seek a sign-and-trade from the Nets. Rumors indicated he was pushing for a trade to the Los Angeles Lakers in hopes of a reunion with former teammate LeBron James, but that obviously didn't come to fruition.

Irving also generated headlines for his questionable use of social media in which he shared a video containing conspiracy theories from right-wing personality Alex Jones. NBA Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar called Irving a "comical buffoon" for posting the video and said for Irving to associate himself with Jones "means you share his stench."

The 30-year-old refuses to undergo COVID-19 vaccination and has not been shy about speaking out against vaccine mandates. He also showed no remorse after receiving backlash for posting the Jones video.

Compared to Irving's offseason exploits, Nets forward Kevin Durant's trade request seems like an afterthought. However, the team was in disarray for quite some time before the 12-time All-Star decided to mend fences and move forward with Brooklyn this season.

On paper, the Nets have a team that should be among the top contenders to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals. Along with Irving and Durant, three-time All-Star Ben Simmons will be making his return to the court after missing all of last season because of injuries and other factors.

Brooklyn will open its season Wednesday night against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Ben Simmons believes he has an important role on the Brooklyn Nets ahead of Wednesday's season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans.

"If I'm not aggressive, this team's not going...you know?" Simmons told reporters Wednesday. "Like if I'm not pushing the ball, if I'm not finding my guys, if I'm not getting to the rim, then those easy shots that we get now are not going to happen. So I got to be the motor."

Simmons joined the Nets last season in a trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, but a back injury prevented him from playing a game with the team. Brooklyn didn't go far without him, earning the No. 7 seed in the East before getting swept in the first round by the Boston Celtics.

Tempered expectations surround Simmons after a lost season, but the 2016 No. 1 overall pick has earned three All-Star selections in four healthy seasons and made the All-Defensive First Team twice.

On the offensive end, Simmons is at his best pushing fast breaks and finding open teammates. He has averaged 7.7 assists per game during his career, ranking in the top 10 in three seasons.

Though the Nets have a proven point guard in Kyrie Irving, Simmons understands his value and will seemingly have the ball in his hands a lot in Brooklyn.

The two have lined up next two each other in the backcourt during the preseason, and Simmons led or tied for the team lead in assists in each game. He had 10 assists in 28 minutes during last week's win over the Milwaukee Bucks.

Irving and Kevin Durant should remain the Nets' go-to scorers, but Simmons will have a significant role in 2022-23.

The Philadelphia 76ers' short-term championship ambitions rest firmly on the shoulders of James Harden, but their long-term future will undoubtedly lie with Tyrese Maxey.

HoopsHype's Michael Scotto polled 20 NBA executives to list the players on the cusp of a breakout in 2022-23. Maxey topped the group with five first-place votes, and one general manager had high praise for the young guard.

"Maxey’s going to be better than James Harden," the GM said. "He just keeps getting better and better and will be a huge reason why they have success this season."

Maxey took a massive step forward in his second season, averaging 17.5 points and 4.3 assists while shooting 48.5 percent from the field and 42.7 percent from beyond the arc.

The 21-year-old guard is a big reason why the Sixers were able to maintain a top-four challenge in the Eastern Conference despite missing Ben Simmons and eventually trading him to the Brooklyn Nets.

Based on Philly's 126-117 opening-night loss to the Boston Celtics, Maxey might be hitting yet another level this year. He finished with 21 points, two assists and two steals in 38 minutes on the floor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zN3k8L4uLr8

The Sixers certainly need him to carry that performance over because the defeat—while just one game in an 82-game season—highlighted some areas that could hold them back.

The bench combined to score 11 points, fewer than Grant Williams and Malcolm Brogdon provided individually for Boston in reserve roles. As much as the front office did to strengthen the roster depth, the offense will likely be heavily reliant on the axis of Maxey, Harden and Joel Embiid.

The Celtics also had a 24-2 scoring edge in fast-break points. The backcourt pair of Harden and Maxey can leave something to be desired on defense, making their offensive contributions all the more critical.

Harden and Maxey back is not the greatest transition defensive duo you might face

— Nate Duncan (@NateDuncanNBA) October 18, 2022

With a Harden/Maxey backcourt there is a ceiling on their defense so their offense will need to be ELITE, and if it’s “4 guys standing and watching” it will top out at pretty good.

I’ll add that for a team with questionable transition D, bad offensive process is more worrisome.

— Anchorage Man (@SethPartnow) October 19, 2022

Beating the Celtics would have allowed the 76ers to lay down an early marker in the battle for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Nonetheless, they provided plenty of reasons to be excited about what's to come, and Maxey showed flashes of the dynamic player he can be on offense.

Brooklyn Nets point guard Kyrie Irving said he believes the team "got better" following Kevin Durant's trade request during the offseason, which was ultimately rescinded in August.

Irving told Stadium's Shams Charania in an interview posted Wednesday that the situation helped the Nets identify the "principles that are needed for success," and it's led to a more tight-knit group, highlighted by a gathering put together by Kyrie last weekend:

Part 2 of Kyrie Irving on @Stadium: "I’m going for every piece of hardware that I could possibly get out of the NBA." On the Nets post-KD trade request, his team bonding event, admitting "I don't think it was my time to ask for a trade" with Cavs, Uncle Drew, meaning of A11Even. pic.twitter.com/TI4IKfOBEs

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2022

Brooklyn's roster appeared on the verge of collapse after KD's request in late June. Along with his desire to find a new team, Irving was also featured prominently in the rumor mill, frequently linked to a possible reunion with LeBron James on the Los Angeles Lakers.

In the end, it was a pretty quiet summer from the Nets front office, which replaced a few depth losses with the additions of T.J. Warren, Royce O'Neale and Markieff Morris.

The biggest change is the return of Ben Simmons, who's set to make his Brooklyn debut in Wednesday night's season-opening clash with the New Orleans Pelicans. He didn't play last season after being acquired in a February trade with the Philadelphia 76ers.

From a purely talent perspective, the Nets have both the high-end star power in Durant, Irving and Simmons along with enough reliable depth contributors to emerge as a championship contender.

The question is whether things could take a turn for the worse if the team, which was swept in the first round of the playoffs by the Boston Celtics last season, gets off to a sluggish start following a couple of drama-filled seasons and the tumultuous offseason.

For his part, Durant said the trade request allowed him to voice his concerns to the front office and he's hopeful it allowed the franchise to end up in a better place.

"I was upset," KD told reporters in September. "And as a family, they understood that I was upset; some of the stuff they agreed with. So we talked about it, and it was over a couple of months, a couple of weeks, toward the end of that where we talked about it. We came out and we voiced all our concerns about how we all can be better. And it just worked out from there, and I'm glad I'm here now."

So the Nets' superstar tandem are both sounding an optimistic tune heading into the new campaign, but the on-court performance will be the true indicator about whether the team has moved on from the offseason grievances.

Brooklyn opens with a tricky first five games against the Pelicans, Toronto Raptors, Memphis Grizzlies, Milwaukee Bucks and Dallas Mavericks.

A handful of early-season contests isn't going to make or break the season, but it could provide an early glimpse at where the Nets stand relative to some fellow contenders.

Ahead of the start of the 2022-23 season, Brooklyn Nets star Kyrie Irving has high expectations for himself.

In an interview with Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium (starts at 2:50 mark), Irving said he is "going for every piece of hardware that I could possibly get out of the NBA" entering his 12th season.

Part 2 of Kyrie Irving on @Stadium: "I’m going for every piece of hardware that I could possibly get out of the NBA." On the Nets post-KD trade request, his team bonding event, admitting "I don't think it was my time to ask for a trade" with Cavs, Uncle Drew, meaning of A11Even. pic.twitter.com/TI4IKfOBEs

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) October 19, 2022

The Nets are certainly hoping for better results on the court after a frustrating and disappointing 2021-22 campaign.

Irving was limited to 29 games because of a combination of injuries and his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine at a time when some places, including New York and Canada, had vaccine mandates.

Kevin Durant only played in 55 games, and Ben Simmons, who was acquired in a February trade with the Philadelphia 76ers, missed the entire season because of a back injury and mental health concerns.

Brooklyn ultimately finished 44-38 and earned the No. 7 seed in the Eastern Conference playoffs but was swept in the first round by the Boston Celtics.

The offseason featured nearly as much drama as the regular season. Durant demanded a trade if head coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks weren't fired. None of those things happened, as all three remain members of the organization.

"I never thought that was 100 percent," Nash told reporters on Sept. 27 about Durant's demand. "There’s a lot of things—it’s not black and white like that. It was a lot of factors. A lot of things behind the scenes."

Irving received permission from the Nets to explore potential sign-and-trade opportunities early in the offseason. He will instead play out this campaign on his $36.5 million player option before becoming a free agent next summer.

If the Nets can stay healthy and avoid any of the drama that has plagued the franchise for the past 12 months, they have the upside to be one of the best teams in the NBA and a true title contender.

A seven-time All-Star, Irving was the 2011-12 Rookie of the Year. He has been named to the All-NBA team three times but has never been a first-team selection. The 30-year-old did play an integral role in the Cleveland Cavaliers winning the 2015-16 NBA championship.

In his limited playing time last season, Irving was one of the best offensive players in the league. He averaged 27.4 points, 5.8 assists and 4.4 rebounds per game with a 41.8 percent three-point rate.

James Harden was listening.

There were questions after his 2021-22 season about whether he had lost a step or whether his prime years were a thing of the past after he didn't appear to be his vintage self following his trade to the Philadelphia 76ers.

Harden sure looked like his old self on Tuesday night, putting up 35 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in a season-opening 126-117 loss to the defending Eastern Conference champion Boston Celtics.

VINTAGE Harden step-back 🔥 https://t.co/NzEIWca4nm

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 19, 2022

JAMES HARDEN 😱 https://t.co/rgwqUXwoS8

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 19, 2022

Philly fans won't be thrilled with the loss to a hated rival. Nonetheless, seeing Harden play at an extremely high level was a good sign.

And the NBA community noticed:

Flames Harden. pic.twitter.com/9ZFdDUNu55

— playoff paint (@nba_paint) October 19, 2022

Lots of encouraging stuff from James Harden tonight. Already a bunch of threes and we just saw a floater and a midrange pull-up. Still plenty to figure out, but a great sign going forward.

— Paul Hudrick (@PaulHudrick) October 19, 2022

This is as good as I’ve seen Harden since he was working with @irv_roland 💯. Real ones know !

— MarkJonesESPN (@MarkJonesESPN) October 19, 2022

Whew what a pass by Harden in pick and roll. Again, I think he manipulates defensive positioning better than any player in the league.

— Hardwood Paroxysm (@HPbasketball) October 19, 2022

Check out the midrange game on Hesi Pullup Jimbo Harden over here

— Dan Devine (@YourManDevine) October 19, 2022

first quarter of the first game of the season and harden is drawing fouls by sticking his leg out. nature is healing

— Molly Morrison (@mollyhannahm) October 18, 2022

james harden baiting a defender into a fouling him on a 3 the nba is back babyyyyyyyyyyyyy

— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) October 18, 2022

Defense is hard in the NBA when you have new pieces. Biggest thing from the Sixers game is that James Harden looked great. They'll build on this one

— Tyrone Johnson (@TyJohnsonNews) October 19, 2022

Heck, even Harden's misses caused a ripple online:

The Harden shimmy, the brick, the Marcus Smart flop...

NBA is back 🤣 https://t.co/eV2DucHcI9

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 19, 2022

James Harden shimmying after Smart went down and firing up an airball was absolutely electric

— John Karalis 🇬🇷 (@John_Karalis) October 19, 2022

Harden Shimmy-Bricking like every opening message I ever sent on Tinder.

— ian karmel (@IanKarmel) October 19, 2022

The Harden shimmy and the horrific miss 😂😂😂😂😂

— Zach Harper (@talkhoops) October 19, 2022

The Sixers will have plenty to work out after Tuesday's tough loss. The defense was poor—which is a nice way of putting it—and allowed Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown (35 points each) to basically score at will.

Joel Embiid had solid counting stats (26 points, 15 rebounds, five assists) but was loose with the ball, turning it over six times, and didn't look particularly effective as a defender.

In the grand scheme of things, Tuesday's loss was one game of 82. The defense should stabilize somewhat as a slew of new players added in the offseason, like P.J. Tucker, Danuel House, De'Anthony Melton and Montrezl Harrell, learn to play together.

Doc Rivers will get a better handle on the rotations. You wouldn't bet on Embiid having a net rating of minus-13 like he had on Tuesday very often.

The bigger story, then, was Harden's performance. He looked like the player we saw with the Houston Rockets and briefly with the Brooklyn Nets when he first arrived. And if the Sixers get that version of Harden going forward, they will be a force to be reckoned with this season.

Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics started the 2022-23 season on fire Tuesday thanks to a 126-117 home win over the Philadelphia 76ers.

On a night where the Celtics honored late franchise legend Bill Russell, Tatum delivered 35 points on 13-of-20 shooting alongside 12 rebounds and four assists. He took over in the third quarter with 17 points on 7-of-9 field goals alone.

Simply put, Tatum looked unstoppable at times against a 76ers squad expected to be one of the league's top Eastern Conference teams this year. Philadelphia had no answer for him defensively, especially in a third quarter where Boston outscored the visitors 35-25.

The season is only one game old, but Tatum even looked like he could be inserting himself into the MVP race as well. His offensive efficiency, rebounding and defensive effort led to a relatively stress-free fourth quarter en route to the win.

Tatum also got plenty of help from his teammates. Jaylen Brown matched Tatum's point total with 35 of his own, and Malcolm Brogdon impressed in his Celtics debut with 16 points. Grant Williams (15 points) and Marcus Smart (14 points, seven assists) also contributed.

But Tatum was the star Tuesday, and Twitter recognized the fact that it appears the Duke star has taken a big leap since last season, when he earned All-NBA First Team honors and led Boston to the Eastern Conference title.

Jayson Tatum tonight:

35 PTS
12 REB
13-20 FG

His first 35/12 game since 2019. pic.twitter.com/VX1wvQxhXZ

— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 19, 2022

Most 30-point games by a Celtic before turning 25:

66 — Jayson Tatum
65 — Paul Pierce pic.twitter.com/vAAdRdjMTd

— StatMuse (@statmuse) October 19, 2022

Jayson Tatum has been everywhere defensively early on for the Celtics. Getting involved in all sorts of stuff at that end, including nearly getting a steal off of Joel Embiid on that last possession.

— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) October 19, 2022

A couple of years ago, Jayson Tatum floaters were either left a foot short and he put way too much on them, that they had no chance.

You can see he's worked on that and getting low and going through guys when he drives.

There's another leap coming.

— Keith Smith (@KeithSmithNBA) October 19, 2022

Celtics fans watching Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown take turns going off pic.twitter.com/vEaElWBZTc

— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) October 19, 2022

Jayson Tatum MVP season loading

— 500 🏎 (@Kameron_Hay) October 19, 2022

PREMATURE EVALUATION: Jayson Tatum is opening up this season with the highest level of off-the-bounce aggressiveness of his career, and he's doing so with strength through contact. This is a significant development.

— Marc D'Amico (@Marc_DAmico) October 19, 2022

Jayson Tatum finished 6th in 2022 MVP voting.

He's averaged 26.2 PTS, 7.8 REB, 5.6 AST, 1.1 STL and 1.1 BLK over the course of his last three playoff runs (46 games).

I got some pushback for putting him at No. 6 in my 2022-23 top 50. Feel pretty good about it right now.

— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) October 19, 2022

As the proud owner of a lot of Jayson Tatum MVP stock, I'm pretty pleased with tonight's game

— Cameron Tabatabaie (@CTabatabaie) October 19, 2022

Oh, Jayson Tatum poppin off the season with a different fire tonight. 31pts and looking TOUGHHHH #BleedGreen

— Amina Smith (@aminajadeTV) October 19, 2022

The Celtics will now head to Miami for an Eastern Conference Finals rematch with the Heat on Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

Few people in the NBA understand what makes Russell Westbrook effective on the court better than Kevin Durant after they were teammates for eight seasons on the Oklahoma City Thunder, and the Brooklyn Nets star believes criticism of the Los Angeles Lakers point guard has gone too far.

Durant talked about a number of NBA topics during a discussion with Eddie Gonzalez for Boardroom, including the criticism Westbrook faces on the Lakers (12:15-15:30).

Videos of Westbrook not joining his team for a pregame huddle or during a brief meeting in a stoppage of play made the rounds on social media this preseason, but Durant pointed out that "Russ always did that … it felt like he was just getting his mind right."

"But if you're playing in L.A., if you're playing next to the biggest figure in sports in LeBron James, everything you do is going to be magnified," Durant continued. "Especially if the outside perception is that your team is going to struggle."

The future Hall of Famer used the discussion about Westbrook to make a larger point about NBA discourse.

"The dialogue around our game is just so toxic at this point," he said. "I get criticism, but it's starting to turn into something else right now."

Perhaps nobody in the league faced more criticism than Westbrook last season, as his first campaign with the Lakers went anything but according to plan. He struggled to adjust to playing alongside James as a ball-dominant playmaker and hit just 29.8 percent of his three-pointers.

At one point, the nine-time All-Star said the constant belittlement he received was bothering his family.

While Durant and Westbrook may not have always been the best of friends since their days as teammates ended, the former had the latter's back ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

The Boston Celtics and Grant Williams did not reach an agreement on a rookie-scale extension by Monday's deadline, but the forward isn't letting frustration over the process linger heading into the 2022-23 campaign.

"When you look across the league, when you look at the role that I play in the players’ association, the idea is that you understand where the league is going in the future and you understand where the league is currently at," the NBPA vice president said, per The Athletic. "So for me, it wasn't a matter of life-changing money; it was a matter of value not only for this year but the years to come."

He also added: "I think that for both sides, we all negotiated to get to that point. And there was no ill will; there were no frustrations. It was one of those things that you just couldn't come to terms."

The Athletic noted both sides were looking at a potential four-year deal, but Williams' quotes suggest he kept his focus on setting a better precedent for the overall market moving forward.

It leaves his long-term future with the franchise up in the air, although Boston did pick up his team option for 2022-23 and could make him a restricted free agent next offseason by extending him a qualifying offer.

That could very well be what happens as the team attempts to control the contract of a valuable role player for as long as it can.

The University of Tennessee product also isn't closing the door on a longer deal down the line.

"It doesn't mean that a deal doesn't get done next year; it doesn't mean a deal won't get done in the future," he said. "So for us, it's just a matter of perspective."

Williams may just be hitting his prime at 23 years old. He is coming off the best season of his career in 2021-22 when he averaged 7.8 points and 3.6 rebounds per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from deep.

Yet it was his performance in the playoffs that truly underscored his worth, as he dropped double-digit points eight times during the run to the NBA Finals and provided quality defense on the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo and others.

Most notably, Williams posted 26 points, six rebounds and seven three-pointers in the Game 7 win over the Milwaukee Bucks in the second round after scoring 21 points with six three-pointers in Game 2.

The 6'6" forward's ability to stretch the floor from the frontcourt provides matchup problems for opposing defenses, and he figures to remain an important piece of the rotation early this season with Robert Williams III sidelined after undergoing knee surgery.

If Grant Williams takes advantage of that opportunity and remains a productive piece of Boston's frontcourt, a new contract could be waiting.

Brooklyn Nets sharpshooters Seth Curry and Joe Harris have been ruled out of the team's season-opening matchup against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night, per Alex Schiffer of The Athletic.

That will leave the Nets without their two best three-point shooters to start the year.

Curry, 32, averaged 14.9 points and 2.6 assists for Brooklyn last season after joining the team as part of the James Harden for Ben Simmons swap, shooting 49.3 percent from the field and 46.8 percent from three.

He has become one of the NBA's most potent and consistent shooters from beyond the arc, though he's currently dealing with an ankle injury.

"Getting closer every day," Curry told reporters on Oct. 2. "Doing a little bit more and more every day. I'm trying to be smart about it. Pass all the tests I need to pass and get ready to go, and stay mentally engaged at the same time to be ready for the season. [I'm doing] full individual workouts ... a bit of everything except playing 5-on-5. That's pretty much where I'm at."

Harris, 31, was one of several Nets to battle injuries throughout last season and only appeared in 14 games, averaging 11.3 points and four rebounds while shooting 45.2 percent from the field and 46.6 percent from three. He was unable to return to the team in time for the playoffs after needing two surgeries for his left ankle last season.

He is currently dealing with a sore foot.

"My ankle honestly feels fine. It's kind of the rest of my body that has to catch up," he told reporters during the preseason. "You just have little stuff here and there, whether it's your knee or back, certain stuff just kind of flares up that typically hasn't popped up in the past, but that's all part of the rehab, too. I hadn't played since last November, so taking that much time off and then trying to get back into the swing of things, the ankle is definitely feeling great but it's kind of the rest of the body that's got to get acclimated."

Starting the season without the pair will certainly impact Brooklyn's floor-spacing, a must for a team that likely will start two non-shooters in center Nic Claxton and power forward Ben Simmons.

The team rolled with a starting 5 of Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Royce O'Neale, Simmons and Claxton in its final preseason game, which likely will be the starting lineup on Wednesday as well.