3 Up, 3 Down for the Orlando Magic’s future playoff spot

3 Up, 3 Down in the Eastern Conference playoff picture

1 Down: Brooklyn Nets

The obvious team that will open up a spot in the playoffs was the 6-seeded Brooklyn Nets.

They broke apart their potential championship team over the last two seasons, trading away Kyrie Irving to the Dallas Mavericks and Kevin Durant to the Phoenix Suns last year.

Brooklyn got a decent return.

Mikal Bridges seemed to flourish as the main star in a lot of ways. Cameron Johnson (a restricted free agent this offseason) seemed to play well too in the expanded role. They have a lot of young players worth building around. And Ben Simmons is still better than everyone probably imagines, even if the biggest question is when and if he will play.

Will that translate to wins? The evidence is not there. And the Brooklyn Nets do not own their own draft thanks to the James Harden trade with the Houston Rockets. Sean Marks is going to have to get creative with his rebuilding again.

The Nets stayed in the playoffs last year after those trades, but they were just 13-15 after the Durant trade. That would likely not be enough to secure the 6-seed and would put them squarely in the play-in conversation.

After the Durant trade, the Nets were 23rd in offensive rating (113.1 points per 100 possessions) and 16th in defensive rating (114.2 points allowed per 100 possessions). They had a -1.1 net rating in that time.

Nobody should completely write off the Nets. They are a team that can play above their station. But this is a team that has major deficits to rebuild.

For a full season, it is hard to see the Nets being a primary threat for the playoffs. This is a team that is clearly ready to cede its playoff spot for somebody to sneak in and grab.

Those are the opportunities the Orlando Magic need to make the playoffs.