Suspended Brooklyn Nets guard Kyrie Irving is nearing the end of his suspension and is reportedly expected to rejoin the team as early as this Sunday against the Memphis Grizzlies.
The Nets had made a formal public commitment to Irving's reinstatement that it was not anti-Semitic and was contingent on him clearing several items all the way through, including implementing a fairness program set by the Nets. After the suspension was announced, Irving formally apologized and met with Nets owner Joe Tsai and NBA commissioner Adam Silver. After Irving's formal apology, some players, some of whom are new to LeBron James, said that the conditions the Nets were giving him were too harsh.
As of Thursday night's game against the Portland Blazers, Irving has missed eight consecutive games. During this time, the Nets are now 4-3. The following data was presented by local media outlet The Sporting News, which compares Irving's absence to prior years.

The standout item in the data is defense, which improved by 12 points in Irving's absence. The data also shows a slight improvement on offense, indicating that the team performed better without Irving in all aspects.
However, the Nets replaced Steve Nash with Jack Vaughn as head coach during this period, and the data depends on the opponent, so it is not a blanket statement that the team functions better without Irving.

Shown next is data on Kevin Durant, the Nets' ace.
We thought they would rely on their ace in the crisis of Irving's absence, but surprisingly, he has played fewer minutes than he did in Irving's absence.
While there have been games where the score gap has opened up, this may be due to the change from the Nash era, which relied on the star, to HC Jack Vaughn. Durant is now 34 years old and is afraid of injury. Also, the Nets roster is full of proven players and talented youngsters. I don't know how Irving will be used when he returns, but it may be better for the entire team to fight together and improve their overall strength, as seen with last year's champion Golden Stay.
Irving is averaging 26.9 points this season, and there is no doubt that he is one of the NBA's best technicians and has explosive offensive potential. If Irving can fit into Jack Vaughn's system and keep up the defensive improvement during this time, this could be a very interesting team. Irving has been a frequent problem, but his ability to improve the team significantly is a proven asset, and we expect him to do so.