Granted, only the late 1980s Los Angeles Clippers, 1990s Denver Nuggets and Dallas Mavericks, and legendary nine-win 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers are in this club, but it's fair to say that last season's Nets are the cream of the crop.
They had legitimate NBA players on their roster, but injuries, a depressed locker room, and coaching and front office uncertainty made things tough.
Of course, they also didn't exactly have the talent of the new Miami Heat squad either.
But let's think about what the Nets do have.
After compiling a .735 winning percentage and an NBA finals appearance with the Dallas Mavericks, Mark Cuban gave "The Little General" the axe. The Mavs haven't been the same since.
A man far richer than Cuban, Mikhail Prokhorov, has given Avery his next chance.
If Avery Johnson teams can be counted on for doing one thing, it surely is playing disciplined and energetic team defense. The Nets have a roster designed to do exactly that.
With Brook Lopez, a legitimately dominant center and 20 and 10 guy, guarding the interior, the Nets have a great defensive piece for the future.
Derrick Favors, the athletically-freakish 19-year-old out of Georgia Tech, may have even more potential.
Check out this video of Favors in high school, putting up the rare 42-point, 20-rebound and 12-block triple-double.
The Nets may build around their front-court, but they have talent at every position. Travis Outlaw was hidden on the Portland Trailblazers behind about five other small forwards, but he is a legitimate NBA talent.
2009 first-round pick Terrence Williams was a great defender at Louisville, and it's hard to believe that won't eventually be the case in the NBA. Similarly, 2010 first-round pick Damion James is an exceptionally strong rebounder for his position, averaging about 10 per game as a small forward in college.
All three have the physical tools to be the long and tough NBA defenders that Johnson looks for, and all have done it before.
Courtney Lee may have become overrated by being so good in the 2009 NBA playoffs with Orlando, but he is surely a slashing scoring talent. Additionally, he is athletic and well-sized for a two guard, somebody who can shut down catch and shoot guys. The Nets did well to complement him with Anthony Morrow at shooting guard, as Morrow has averaged 46 percent from beyond the arc in the NBA. With Lee and Morrow, the Nets have versatility at the offensive end.
This is also true at point guard. Devin Harris is a lightning-quick steal machine and a potential All-Star when healthy, and while Jordan Farmar isn't a star, he's a solid backup point guard in the NBA with a different game than Harris plays.
These aren't your 2009 Nets. No More "Chairman" Yi Jianlan. No more Keyon Dooling. No more Chris Douglas-Roberts. The team has upgraded.
Still, it all comes back to Johnson. As a winner and a former champion himself (1999 with the Spurs), Johnson was a great hire by the Nets. At the very least, New Jersey will fight hard every single game. Teams won't salivate over the prospect of playing them, and they look like they legitimately will be able to defend.
On the other hand, the Nets' hiring of Billy King as GM wasn't a particularly impressive move, especially when Kevin Pritchard remains unemployed. New Jersey, even with Jay-Z wooing, also didn't exactly get themselves a superstar in the summer of free agency.
If you consider the Eastern Conference though, they could even be a playoff team. Let's call Boston, Miami, Chicago, and Orlando the clear four teams to beat, and assume that Atlanta is probably still a playoff team, but then what? The Bucks may continue to progress, as may the Bobcats, but neither are much better than this New Jersey team. Toronto, Indiana, New York, Washington, Philadelphia and Detroit are all probably not as good. It's not crazy to think that this team could be a seven seed.
As for getting fans in the building, if Mark Cuban could totally re-energize a dilapidated Mavs franchise, a guy who just happens to have a special forces AK-47 on his window sill in his TV room can surely do the same.
I'd go to a Nets game just to see Prokhorov, but Avery Johnson may make winning the actual spectacle worth seeing in 2010-11.
