Lopez, Johnson think the Nets can win a ring. This year.

I’m going to mock them a little for it. Some of you are going to mock them a lot for it in the comments and on twitter. It’s clear why.

But ask yourself this — do you want a key player on a good team to say they can’t win a ring this year? Do you want Joe Johnson to say “we really hope we can get home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs and maybe advance to the second round, that would be a success?”

No, you want them to think ring. Even when they are not going to win it. And so Johnson and Brook Lopez of the Nets have said what they should, in separate interviews they both talked title.

Johnson has a good interview with Zach Lowe of Sports Illustrated talking about how shocking rents are in New York, how he was playing NBA 2K12 when he was told about the trade, then he instantly traded himself on the game, and how he wants a ring.

That’s what we are shooting for — the ring. There’s no need to sell ourselves short. You talk about gelling and figuring it out, and I think we have the perfect pieces: a great point guard, a great center. I don’t think any of our positions are the same or overlap at all.

Lopez was on the other side of the globe — the Philippines — last week for an NBA event and when asked he told the Philippines Star that he thought the Nets were a title team.

“Obviously our main goal is no question the NBA championship. I think it is realistic for us. We’re already a good playoff team so with the addition of other pieces, we can target the ring,” said Lopez, who was recently re-signed by the Nets to a four-year deal.

The Nets have a good core — Johnson, Lopez, Deron Williams will be the leader, and Gerald Wallace. Also on the roster are Kris Humphries, MarShon Brooks, Reggie Evans and I think people are going to like Mirza Teletovic’s game.

The Nets are going to be a fun to watch, a quality offense team, not a contender but good. They are going to put up a lot of points. But they are going to give up a lot of points too, and that end of the floor is the question. How good they are, how far they go will be about their defense. I see a respectable team that will be at best a four and more likely a five or six seed in the East.

But the Nets themselves, they see bigger things.