Chicago Bulls: NBA power rankings for all 30 teams

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 25: Benny the Bull, the Chicago Bulls macot, goes up for a dunk during a break between the Bulls and the LA Clippers at the United Center on January 25, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Clippers defeated the Bulls 106-101. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JANUARY 25: Benny the Bull, the Chicago Bulls macot, goes up for a dunk during a break between the Bulls and the LA Clippers at the United Center on January 25, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. The Clippers defeated the Bulls 106-101. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)
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(Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)
(Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images)

12. Brooklyn Nets

The Brooklyn Nets did really well this summer. I mean, they beat out their in-state rivals (the New York Knicks) in the Kevin Durant/Kyrie Irving sweepstakes. Does it get much better than that?

If Durant hadn’t ruptured his Achilles tendon, the Nets would enter the 2019-2020 season as a top-5 team in the NBA. Now, they’re merely a playoff team. That’s not a bad thing, though. They’ll have one season of Kyrie leading a team full of developing youngsters before KD joins the party.

Is a Kyrie Irving-led team good enough to make serious noise in the playoffs? I doubt it. We basically saw this same thing play out in Boston last season. But they’ll still be a team that wins a lot of games and has the potential to beat some really good teams.

Maybe I’m wrong about the Nets being incapable of making a deep playoff run next season, though. The case could be made that the Nets actually have a better young core than the Celtics did last year. Caris LeVert is legitimately good, Spencer Dinwiddie is solid, Jarrett Allen is a monstrous big man and Joe Harris is a sniper. Maybe Kyrie playing alongside all those dudes will actually work out.

Oh! I forgot to mention that they also gave an aging DeAndre Jordan (who’s 20% of what he used to be) a $40 million contract. Congrats, Nets!