Before the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, the Brooklyn Nets had arguably the most successful off-season of any team in the league. After landing Joe Johnson via trade and re-signing Deron Williams, the Nets’ front office let it be known this team was going all-in and was serious about winning an NBA title in the near future.
Even after all the moves that Nets made over the summer, few would argue that the Lakers, Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder weren’t the top three teams in the league with the best chances of winning a title this season.
Brooklyn has definitely improved their roster with the additions of Johnson, Andray Blatche, Reggie Evans and Josh Childress along with re-signing Brooke Lopez, Williams, Gerald Wallace and Kris Humphries, but whether or not they’ll be able to contend with the league’s elite squads remains to be seen.
The start of the 2012-13 NBA season is only weeks away and the newest superstar addition to the Nets is already claiming that Brooklyn can take down the Lakers and Heat to win a title according to Stefan Body of the New York Daily News via Twitter:
Joe Johnson says Nets can beat the Heat and Lakers and win a title THIS year.
— Stefan Bondy (@NYDNInterNets) October 1, 2012
Strong words from the six-time All-Star with the revamped Nets yet to play a single minute on the floor together, but not all that surprising as he has every right to feel confident heading into the upcoming NBA season.
The combination of Williams and Johnson will almost certainly create one of the best backcourts on paper in the NBA. It’s still to be determined whether or not these two perennial All-Stars will complement each other’s game and ultimately be enough to truly turn the Nets legitimate NBA title contender.
The Lakers will experience a similar situation this season with Nash and Kobe Bryant in the backcourt. Both players have yet to play with a superstar-caliber teammate in the same backcourt and some have reservations on whether or not the combination will work.
