When the Nets raised their talent level, they raised the bar with it.

For the first time in years, the Nets actually come into a season with great expectations — albeit somewhat tempered by superstar Kevin Durant’s ruptured Achilles.

“I don’t make guarantees, but of course I [think we can win the title],” Spencer Dinwiddie said. “It has a chance to be a very, very special season.”

Brooklyn backed up its first playoff berth since 2015 by adding Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan in a splashy summer. While the assumption is Durant will miss the entire season and some of the advanced analytics predict a losing record, the Nets are talking contention.

“I don’t know that all the guys we signed in the offseason are coming here for mediocrity. That’s not part of it,” GM Sean Marks said. “This is why we went in. That’s why ownership showed the ability to get behind us, and support the vision that we’ve outlined.”

That ownership changed hands in an eventful summer, with e-commerce billionaire Joe Tsai buying both the Nets and Barclays Center from Mikhail Prokhorov.

After forking over a record $2.35 billion for the team — and signing off on more than $400 million worth of contracts — Tsai could end up on the hook for luxury tax if he re-ups Joe Harris.

The Alibaba co-founder will likely be looking for a lot of wins as a return on his investment.

“We’d be in the wrong business if we said our goal is to be sustainable and along for the ride of mediocrity. None of those words exist with us,” Marks said. “We’re going to compete at the highest level, and we expect the ultimate goal. That’s why we’re all in this business.”

Starting five

Can the Nets make another jump this season?

Brooklyn’s 14-game improvement a year ago was the second-best in the East and helped the Nets grab a surprising sixth seed for the playoffs. On paper, adding the likes of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving and DeAndre Jordan should spur another step forward. But paper doesn’t win games.

Many have questioned Irving’s leadership and Jordan’s motivation. The Nets claim they aren’t expecting Durant to play all season. And they rode great chemistry to an overachieving 42 wins last year. But with 13 new faces — and veteran leaders like DeMarre Carroll, Ed Davis and Jared Dudley gone — can they replicate that vibe? It probably depends on the answers to a couple of huge questions…

Can Irving lead?

That’s up for debate after the Boston debacle.

A Celtics team that made it to the Eastern Conference finals essentially without him in 2017-18 struggled through infighting and implosions last season. Irving fussed with his young teammates and coach Brad Stevens, and admitted during the season and again during his Brooklyn introduction that he struggled to lead.

In an introspective moment, Irving acknowledged he’d been depressed following the passing of his grandfather, acknowledging he internalized it and didn’t seek the help he needed. But the fact is with Durant out, Brooklyn will need more — or better — leadership out of Irving than what he gave Boston.

The Nets can only hope that home and family will keep Irving in a better frame of mind. He’s a father and has his own father nearby in West Orange, N.J. After growing up a Nets fan attending games at the Meadowlands, now he’s got a shot to guide his hometown club to contention. If he’s up to the task.

Kenny Atkinson’s system could suit Irving well; Brooklyn was fifth in the league in pick-and-roll possessions when the ball-handler shot, while Boston was 24th. But this won’t be about Irving’s game, but his ability to lift the games of his teammates.

Will KD play — and if so, when?

When Durant went down in Game 5 of the NBA Finals, Golden State immediately ruled him out for this season. After initially refusing to do so when speaking with reporters at the Las Vegas Summer League, Marks eventually followed suit at Nets media day. He said he expects Durant to miss the season — but hedged a lot.

“We’re not going to plan on him playing,” Marks said, before adding, “His rehab will obviously be predetermined over the course of the next few months, how he goes with the performance team. But ultimately Kevin will have a large say in when he comes back and how he’s feeling.”

Sources told The Post his rehab has been progressing well. But the Nets are always conservative, and after a widespread perception that Durant getting rushed back from a month-long calf strain made his situation worse, expect them to treat their star with kid gloves.

“We all know K was not ready to play in that environment. We all know that, whether people want to admit or not. He was out 31 days. We put him out there to sell a product that came before the person, Kevin,” Irving said. “I’m going to be the protector and not let anyone infiltrate that circle. ‘Hey K, do you, get right. We’ll be fine.’ ”

Can Atkinson handle stars?

In the latest NBA GM Survey, Atkinson was among the top coaches getting votes for both his defensive schemes and his motivation. Considering he was one of the first coaches to fully embrace the use of the zone and he built an all-in culture that led to last year’s overachieving, getting praise in those two areas isn’t shocking. But this season is a different challenge.

It was a lot easier for Atkinson to preach culture to guys he was giving a chance off the scrap heap (Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie) or rookies who fell in the draft (Jarrett Allen, Caris LeVert). Now he’s dealing with star talents who come with star egos. What happens when he has to get on Irving over his defense, or Jordan wants to start over Allen?

What will the defense look like, especially at forward?

While Irving is a poor perimeter defender, the Nets did a great job backing him up with a host of long-armed, versatile defenders such as LeVert and newly acquired backups David Nwaba and Garrett Temple. And the center tandem of Allen and Jordan can protect the rim. But forward could be an issue, especially power forward.

Losing Davis, Carroll and even Dudley will hurt team defense. Harris is a 3-point champion, but hardly a glove at small forward. And at power forward, Prince’s defense fell off last year in Atlanta. He’s likely 2 inches shorter than his listed 6-foot-8, and outsized against the likes of Anthony Davis, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Al Horford.

And when Prince is off the floor, Rodions Kurucs is still somewhat lean and facing potential suspension with his assault trial looming. Wilson Chandler has already been suspended himself, and Nic Claxton (6-11, 220) is a waifish rookie. All the new faces could see the defense take a hit, and that will likely show up at forward most of all.

Starting five

Newcomer to watch: Kyrie Irving

And that’s only because it could be hard to watch Durant’s rehab. (Although new Nets CEO David Levy says they might share tons of Durant rehab content, so maybe not…)

It’s hard to imagine a top-10 or top-15 player in the world — and arguably the best finisher in the game — being dogged by so many questions. Leadership. Durability (missed 174 games in nine years from Duke to now). Blah, blah, blah.

Then you watch him play, watch him get by every single defender put in front of him, watch him dissect every opponent, and you’re reminded why he’s box office. Must-see.

Most important decision

One could’ve said accurately judging Durant’s health, or whether to give Prince a rookie extension — which they did just under the wire at Monday’s deadline.

But in the end, that choice to lock Prince up with a two-year, $29 million deal ties into the most important call the Nets will have to make — and that’s whether to patiently stay the course or go for the brass ring.

Brooklyn’s stable roster provides a four-year window, with Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan and Caris LeVert all under contract through 2022-23, and Spencer Dinwiddie, Nic Claxton, Rodions Kurucs and Dzanan Musa locked up until the season before that, all but Dinwiddie on rookie deals.

Basically, they’ve amassed a deep roster that still has some pieces. But if they find themselves in a tight fight for the standings, or a star unexpectedly becomes available at the deadline, what does Marks do?

“Time’s on our side. The commitment the other guys made before me, K got here, DJ, even Caris got his extension, they were committed for the long term,” Irving said. “When you get a chance to put on the Brooklyn uniform and then have guys that you’ll be with for the next four-plus years, you’re just really grateful and you want to settle into it.”

Good days to come

Irving could be in for a career year. Atkinson has coaxed career campaigns out of every point guard who has started for him as a head coach or assistant, including DeAngelo Russell, Dinwiddie, Jeff Teague and Jeremy Lin (twice). That’s a high bar for Irving, but don’t be shocked if he clears it.

Bad days ahead

Wilson Chandler already was suspended 25 games for PEDs before he’d even suited up for Brooklyn. Now it begs the question of whether he ever will. Prince and Kurucs are higher on the food chain, and Claxton looks promising. The day Chandler is slated to come off suspension is the same day he becomes eligible to be traded.

Don’t be surprised if

The Net most likely to win an NBA statistical category turns out to be … Jordan. The all-time career leader in field-goal percentage topped the league from 2012-17 before “falling” to second in 2017-18. After a down season a year ago, Jordan could bounce back and finish No. 1 again.

Story that won’t go away

Saying Durant is almost too easy, like picking low-hanging fruit. But the storyline that’s actually become an international controversy and been both divisive and overly dramatic on both sides of the world has been China versus the NBA. The Nets and Tsai have found themselves in the middle of it.

Much has been made of China’s rancor towards the league and muzzling of the Nets and Lakers on their trip; now the issue followed the Nets home. At Friday’s preseason finale, activist Andrew Duncan gave tickets to hundreds of demonstrators who wore shirts that read “Stand with Hong Kong” and “Free Tibet.” Some chanted “Shame on Joe Tsai.”

Over the weekend, CCTV — China’s state-sponsored TV — fired back that NBA commissioner Adam Silver will face “retribution.” With the league’s interests in China estimated at between $4 billion and $5 billion, this is a problem that’s going to linger.

Five games to watch

Oct. 25 vs. Knicks: The Nets open two days earlier against Minnesota, but this game against their rivals should be electric. And the Nets are already doing some pregame trolling with an Irving jersey giveaway after the star chose them over the Knicks, the team he’d been linked with much of last season.

Nov. 1 vs. Rockets: Houston GM Daryl Morey’s tweet backing pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong started an international incident that Tsai and the Nets are in the middle of. China’s communist government got in an uproar, while demonstrators came to Friday’s Nets game wearing “Stand with Hong Kong” shirts and jeering Tsai. What will happen if Morey — who has family in New Jersey — makes the trip to Brooklyn?

Nov. 27 at Celtics: Irving’s run with the Celtics was highly scrutinized and criticized. After he was painted the villain in Boston upon his departure, Irving’s return will be the latest juicy chapter in this tale — and sure to come with plenty of salty boos.

Jan. 20 vs. Philadelphia: The Nets got shut out of Christmas Day for a sixth straight year. But they’ll get a playoff rematch against the 76ers on MLK Day, the league’s other marquee date.

March 12 at Warriors: Yes, D’Angelo Russell will have already visited Brooklyn on Feb. 5. But with the last five notable players to rupture their Achilles taking an average of 280 days to return — which would be March 18 for Durant — could he be back for this game?

Three bold predictions

Durant plays this year. Yes, Marks said the Nets aren’t expecting him to. But an eight-month rehab from a ruptured Achilles isn’t unheard of, and a conservative nine months puts him back in March. It says here that’s what happens.

LeVert emerges as an All-Star contender if his jumper keeps improving. He hit just 27.3 percent on catch-and-shoot 3s last season, which he’ll need to improve to be a good running mate for Irving. But he looked much better from deep in the preseason (46.2 percent). And if he carries that over, he could take the next jump to All-Star level.

That game-by-game matchup between Allen and Jordan becomes more of Allen starting and Jordan having to get used to it. The Nets can’t stunt Allen’s growth, and there will be plenty of matchups against the likes of Joel Embiid or Andre Drummond where Jordan’s size is needed.

The Post’s forecast

45-37. Obviously there’s a lot of gray area on either side of this prediction. If Durant doesn’t play a second, but LeVert also doesn’t miss half the campaign as he did a year ago, this sounds about right. Take Las Vegas’ 43.5-win projection and take the over.