The playing homes all say Brooklyn goes to be the worst staff within the NBA.
The Nets say don’t guess on it.
A lot of them took offense at having a league-worst 19.5 wins set as their over/underneath betting line. And with coaching camp tipping off on Tuesday, the Nets can begin the work of proving it flawed.
“Yes, I find it disrespectful. Just because we’ve got a lot of guys that people don’t know doesn’t mean we’re going to win just 19 games,” Day’Ron Sharpe mentioned. “You can’t be one foot out and one foot in. I’m trying to win as many games as possible and a lot of people are going to doubt us and we’re gonna show them.”
Dorian Finney-Smith added, “No expectations, man. We’re playing with the church’s money.”
Multiple Internet echoed that sentiment, of the low expectations concurrently getting used as motivation whereas additionally being liberating, fostering an underdog mentality.
“On one hand, you say we have low expectations: then we just get to come out and play how we play without all that added stress that can come with that,” Cam Johnson mentioned. “So, for us, we can use it to our advantage. Use it as a chip on our shoulder and use it as a weight off of our shoulder to go and just play how we do.”
After buying and selling Mikal Bridges and reacquiring their very own 2025 and ’26 picks from Houston, the Nets are anticipated to not solely battle however transfer extra veterans.
“I was with Mikal when he got moved. So, I thought there’s a chance I may be moved,” Finney-Smith mentioned. “But all I can do is be a professional: Come in shape, come in ready to play and be where my feet [are].”
The twin summer season offers signaled a rebuild in Brooklyn. However don’t inform the Nets that.
Organizations tank. Gamers and coaches don’t. Whereas GM Sean Marks can fear about lottery odds and Cooper Flagg, the gamers are centered on getting Ws.
“I don’t look at it as a rebuild: I’m trying to win. Especially if Ben [Simmons] is Ben [Simmons], I feel like we got a good chance to win some games,” Finney-Smith mentioned. “So, I just try to go all-in and be two feet in and just try to get as many wins as I can, as we can.”
A number of Nets internalized the last-place projections and it’s given them a chip on their collective shoulder.
“I look at it as motivation,” Cam Thomas mentioned. “Whenever I see something like that, or my mom tells me about it, I always just laugh, but then always keep a mental note of that in my head and just try to prove everybody wrong…I just use everything as motivation for myself and the team. So definitely laugh, but it’s in the back of my mind as motivation.”
How bought-in will older vets like Simmons, Finney-Smith, Johnson and Bojan Bogdanovic be, with all however Johnson on expiring offers? Johnson and Finney-Smith have been topic of commerce rumors all offseason.
“They’ve been really open, and I appreciate that. A lot of times in this league, coaches won’t say anything to you, and they’re just trying to sweep it under the rug like your name ain’t all over the internet,” Finney-Smith mentioned. “[So] I appreciate them.”
Bojan Bogdanovic (foot, wrist surgical procedures) has began on courtroom particular person work however not contact or 5-on-5.
