Nets Need Consistency From Guards To Step Up In Level On Road Trip
Nets Need Consistency From Guards To Step Up In Level On Road Trip
Kevin Durant’s status for Wednesday night’s meetup with his former Nets teammates is up in the air as of this writing, as the Suns superstar’s ankle injury was still not deemed healthy enough for him to play in Tuesday night’s showdown with Golden State.
Whether or not KD suits up in Phoenix for Brooklyn’s second game of a brutal five-game road trip, count me among the Nets fans who still feel the sting of what might have been. For though this current iteration is eminently likeable and plays with abundant heart, it’s the cliched high floor, low ceiling team.
The limitations have been abundantly clear almost every time the Nets have been tasked with stepping up in level, most recently on Monday night in Sacramento, when the Kings pretty much toyed with them in a 131-118 rout. Though the Nets have been a good matchup in their two contests versus the surprising Magic this season, they’re a combined 0-6 against other top-5 teams in each conference. The average margin of defeat in those games has been 10.1 points.
The rest of the trip may only include one such high-achieving opponent—a back-to-back at defending NBA Champion Denver on Thursday just doesn’t seem fair—but I wouldn’t discount Golden State on Saturday either just because of their current won/lost record, even if madman Draymond Green is suspended.
Durant’s brilliance, especially when paired with Kyrie Irving, made fans feel that their team could compete against anyone anytime. The only problem was that those nights were too few and far between. Between injuries and Irving’s various unexcused absences, they proved to be unreliable.
Winning just one playoff round in that era was incredibly disappointing, though I have gone down with the ship that it was worth the bet General Manager Sean Marks made in the “Clean Sweep” of 2019. The Nets had never been that close to potential glory since the Jason Kidd days, and they probably won’t have the chance to be that good again for another few years.
Look, I think Marks did well in his attempt at a reset following the devastating Irving/Durant trade request combination. He acquired a host of draft picks that restocked a somewhat barren cupboard and winning players like Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson, and Dorian Finney-Smith. In the offseason, he signed a bunch of intriguing younger vets who have already made key contributions to their solid 12-10 start.
The once-admired Nets development program is back in full force, and we’ve seen marked improvements in players such as Cam Thomas and Day’Ron Sharpe. A pair of 19-year old first-round picks from the 2023 NBA Draft, Dariq Whitehead and Noah Clowney, have been able to settle in at G League Long Island, with Whitehead slowly shaping into form following foot surgery.
All that’s missing, of course, is that superstar that can singlehandedly turbocharge them back into NBA title contention. To clarify, Bridges has been fantastic, playing every game and leading the NBA in field goals made in “clutch” situations, defined by NBA.com as those games that were withing a five-point spread in the last five minutes. Diving deeper, over a cumulative 19 minutes of crunch-time action, he is an amazing 9-for-15 from the floor in scoring 26 points in one-score games in the last two minutes. At the height of KD’s powers as a Net two seasons ago, he shot 8-for-26 in those situations.
Still, I don’t think Marks would even dispute that Bridges would probably function better in the long run as a 1B or No. 2 scoring option, like Irving was to Durant. That primary option should be a guard.
In the first 10 games or so, Cam Thomas appeared to be that other source of play-driving offense. Unfortunately, he turned his ankle in a November 8 contest versus the Clippers, missed nine games, and has been maddeningly inconsistent since his return, averaging about ten points less per game with a similar drop in effective field goal percentage. Some of it is because opponents have made him more of their focus—the Kings De’Aaron Fox manhandled him on Monday and others have blitzed ball screens to force Thomas to give it up. Also, it’s easy to forget that he’s still only 22; with this experience, the potential for substantial all-around growth remains high, though not guaranteed.
And then there’s Spencer Dinwiddie, who is incredibly important to Brooklyn as the sole point guard with Ben Simmons, Dennis Smith Jr. and Lonnie Walker all out with injuries. Head Coach Jacque Vaughn has had to think outside the box by stealing minutes with 6-foot 8, 237-pound forward Trendon Watford running the show during Dinwiddie’s breaks. I get that Dinwiddie can be very effective in isolations, but too often he plays above his pay grade. When he acts as a go-to scorer, the Nets’ offense usually gets bogged down. Hence, his 39.4/33.3/80 shooting split this season.
Strangely, Thomas has been more likely to submit a star-worthy performance in defeats. The Nets have won only one game all season where he scored more than 20 points, and that was during his 33-point effort in Game 3 versus Charlotte. In the six games he suited up when the Nets lost, he’s averaging 30.7 ppg on 51.8/35.7/83.3 shooting split. Monday’s outing where he still managed to get to 20 points in garbage time after going 8-for-21 from the floor was only his second that could be deemed substandard in a loss.
In general, the Nets haven’t fared well against teams that win the guard matchup on paper. Here’s the team’s they’ve lost to, along with their lead guard(s):
Cleveland: Donovan Mitchell, Darius Garland
Dallas: Luka Doncic, Irving
Boston (twice): Jrue Holiday
Milwaukee: Damian Lillard
Miami: Kyle Lowry, Jimmy Butler
Philadelphia: Tyrese Maxey
Atlanta: Trae Young, Dejounte Murray
Charlotte: Terry Rozier
Sacramento: Fox
On the above list, only Maxey, who could easily make it this season, and Rozier have yet to play in an NBA All-Star game, though Lowry’s last selection was back in 2020.
And in the Nets’ victories:
Charlotte: Rozier
Miami (twice): Lowry, Butler, Tyler Herro
Chicago (twice): Zach LaVine
L.A. Clippers: James Harden, Russell Westbrook
Washington (twice): Tyus Jones, Jordan Poole
Orlando (twice): Jalen Suggs
Toronto: Dennis Schroder
Atlanta: Young, Murray
Not to demean any of the above, some of whom overlap the first list, but there’s clearly a vast divergence in talent between the two.
The sample size too small to draw any conclusions, but, as much as I will always treasure the short-lived KD experience, it could suggest that when Marks is ready to make another major move, it should be to replace what Irving produced at guard.