Nets Preseason Rotation Telling For Former No. 1 Pick’s Prospects
NBA preseason results have all the predictive value of tarot cards when it comes to the ultimate outcomes of the ensuing regular season. The exhibitions are played at a lesser speed and intensity by a large chunk of players who you won’t see next week when the games count.
However, the construct of the games sometimes gives clues as to what a coach is thinking in relation to his internal player evaluations. He might want to experiment with different lineups at certain points, but you can often get a sense of what the pecking order could look like for a possible regular season rotation.
That’s why I was disappointed that Dariq Whitehead, the Nets No. 22 overall selection in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft, has been buried deep on new Head Coach Jordi Fernandez’s bench during Brooklyn’s three preseason games to date. For those that hoped Whitehead, who once exhibited so much potential as a prototypical 3-and-D wing, would be among the beneficiaries of this Nets “tank” year in terms of it allowing for more in-game development, that doesn’t seem to be in the cards.
By no means am I questioning Fernandez’s judgement. To the contrary, as a rookie HC, it’s incumbent on him to be perceived as having no favorites, that playing time must be earned by those who put forth the requisite effort and execution in practices.
Still, the fact that Whithead is currently below both Keon Johnson, who is barely an NBA player, and Tyrese Martin, who in my opinion isn’t an NBA player, on the Nets’ wing depth chart is troubling. During Brooklyn’s last two preseason affairs, both of which were blowouts, Whitehead didn’t see the floor until there was less than five minutes remaining. He looked like he was going through the motions at the end of Wednesday night’s 117-95 loss in Philadelphia, missing all three field goal attempts (including a pair of three-pointers that were way off) while grabbing a rebound. The outing lowered Whitehead’s preseason shooting percentage to 22%.
To be fair, Whitehead, who just turned 20 in August, has a lengthy injury history, with January’s shin surgery the most recent of his travails. His right foot required two operations in the year before he was drafted, which is why the McDonald’s All-American fell to Brooklyn after one shortened season at Duke. The Nets, through their affiliation with the Hospital for Special Surgery, had prior success when taking significant risks on players with lower body injuries.
I’m worried this will be one that won’t pan out. It was one thing for Whitehead to look out of sorts at July’s Las Vegas Summer League, where he posted a ghastly 14.6/8.3/75 shooting split, but one might have expected that an offseason of work would have allowed for a little bit more of an improvement in efficiency and overall movement. Either Whitehead doesn’t yet trust his legs or his old explosion is but a memory. Either way, it isn’t good.
What’s the rush, you say? It’s rare for a player that young to look like he belongs in the best league in the world, right?
Unfortunately, the NBA collective bargaining agreement doesn’t accommodate unlimited patience. So the reason for a little bit more urgency at this moment is that Whitehead’s contract has a team option for the next two seasons, with the 2025-26 option required to be exercised by October 31. Per the first-round pay scale, Whitehead, whose salary counts for about $3.1 million against Brooklyn’s cap this season, would be due another $3.26 million in 2025-26 and, if the fourth year gets exercised, would cost Brooklyn about $5.367 million in the following year.
Those figures are well above the league minimums for players of Whitehead’s experience. Though Brooklyn is projected to have plenty of cap space next offseason, does General Manager Sean Marks want a potentially unusable player’s guaranteed amount on the books going forward when scenarios where Brooklyn might be a player for real talent might present themselves? The Nets were able to (virtually) freely obtain forward Ziaire Williams plus Draft capital this offseason because Memphis needed to undergo similar cap sheet maintenance.
If I had to guess, the Nets will exercise the third-year option in the next two weeks and bet on their development program, including having Whitehead gain confidence with G League Long Island, and hope that his progress there mimics what they saw from 2023 No. 21 pick Noah Clowney last season.
It might be Whitehead’s last chance to show the Nets something to prove that he was worth the risk.