Brooklyn Nets: 3 Goals for Kyrie Irving in the 2019-2020 Season

End the season among the NBA’s Top-10 in steals per game

Although Uncle Drew has never been a stout defender by any means, it would be encouraging to see Kyrie Irving focus a little bit more on the less glamorous end of the court this upcoming season. At just 27-years-old, it’s crazy to think that he could just now be entering his athletic prime.

With this year essentially being a throwaway season while waiting for Kevin Durant, it would be a welcome sight to view Irving work on his defensive instincts to get ready for the arrival of KD. Irving’s highest placement on the steals per game charts came last season when he finished 13th in the league at 1.5 per night. That put him, in between Mikal Bridges and Thaddeus Young.

When Durant returns in 2020, Kyrie’s load on offense is going to decrease significantly. If Irving can use that extra energy on the defensive end, that would be huge for the Nets’ title hopes two years from now.

Additionally, this could help Brooklyn in their short term aspirations as the team is thin on perimeter defenders. The Nets ranked 27th in the NBA in steals last season, averaging just 6.6 of them per game. Moreover, the only other Net to average over one steal per game is the returning Caris LeVert. (1.1). If Irving can show strong effort on defense right out of the gate, this could cause a ripple effect across the roster and lead to even more wins for this year’s squad.