Considering the fact that I just read the Yahoo Sports Nets Preview that says the team is projected for an 18-win campaign, I figured I’d interject my two cents:

Yes, the Nets seem like a team that is trying to save cap space with barely 25 million dollars on the pay roll, but a few players have contracts laden with incentives. What does this mean exactly? The Nets are taking chances on several players and if those gambles pay off, this team is going to be a heck of a lot of fun to watch.

Last week, I spoke about the team’s commitment to defense and while it seems that the team will be holding it’s breath on offense, one look at the bench says otherwise. Ryan Anderson, Eduardo Najera and Jarvis Hayes can all hit the three and Devin Harris looks ready for a breakout season. Yi Jianlian, Sean Williams and Josh Boone all have something to prove and Chris Douglas-Roberts seems like the perfect fit for the team’s new offense.

Simply put, I think a lot of NBA pundits are having a huge problem taking the Nets seriously because they lack a “Big Three” presence now. However, even with those three players, this team wasn’t good enough to win a championship. Now while the team is in a rebuilding mode, they still have enough depth and talent to swim in the lower ranks of the Eastern Conference.

Lets face it; if the Hawks could make the playoffs last season, I see no reason why the Nets can’t stay in the mix this season.

Laurence Frank seems to think the same way as well.

“It is not about one player, it is not about the big three, it’s about being a team, because that’s going to be our recipe to be successful,” Frank told the AP. “We can’t focus on who’s not here. We can’t focus on one guy like Vince and he’s got to do everything. It’s about everyone doing their part and doing it together.”

I personally think that while this team will challenge for the last playoff spot in the Eastern conference, they will falter down the stretch, similar to what happened last season. This team is taking a few chances and it’s almost impossible to have everything go a planned over the course of a long NBA season. If it does, this team will sneak into the playoffs. However, I just don’t see that happening. Nevertheless, I see them winning a lot more games than 18.

Anything else would be uncivilized.

Projection- 33 Wins. 10th place Eastern Conference.