Assessing the ceiling of the revamped Brooklyn Nets

When the season began, the Brooklyn Nets had championship aspirations and two of the greatest talents in basketball. Five months later, the trajectory of the franchise looks radically different.

Kevin Durant is in Phoenix, Kyrie Irving is in Dallas and Steve Nash is no longer a head coach. Four of Brooklyn's five current starters did not start the season with the team.

Despite the turmoil, the Nets are 40-35 and sixth in the Eastern Conference. Brooklyn has a half-game lead over the Miami Heat for the final non-play-in playoff spot.

In trade deadline deals, the Nets acquired Mikal Bridges, Spencer Dinwiddie, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith. Each has helped keep the Nets afloat. 

Bridges has played like an All-Star, averaging 26 points, five rebounds and four assists in 20 games with Brooklyn. 

“We’ve put a lot on his plate," Nets coach Jacques Vaughn told the New York Post about the forward.

Dinwiddie, meanwhile, is averaging 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists while Johnson averages  16 points. Finney-Smith averages 6.4 points.

Despite the hot play of their newest Big Three, the Nets are 8-13 in the 21 games since the Durant trade. That record would put the Nets on a 31-win pace for a full season.

The Nets are a young, rebuilding team whose ceiling is a first-round exit. If this group played the full season together, Brooklyn would not be in the play-in, let alone the playoffs, which begin April 15.

The Nets will likely match up with either the 76ers, Celtics or Bucks in the first round. 

The Bucks would have the three best players (Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday) in a series against the Nets, the Celtics would have three of the four best players (Jayson Tatum, Marcus Smart, Jaylen Brown) and the 76ers would have four of the five best players (Tobias Harris, Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, James Harden).

Star players win in the playoffs. The Nets will be outmanned and overmatched in every potential matchup.

They should just be happy to be there. Perhaps the trade deadline acquisitions, particularly Bridges, will provide some solace as the team charts a new path.