Though Irving Was Media Day Focus, Training Camp Will Be Mostly About How Nets Fill Out End Of Bench
Memo to Kyrie: Your vaccination status is both public AND a distraction
Monday’s Media Day signified the official start to the most anticipated Nets season in franchise history. For the next few weeks until the October 19 opener in Milwaukee, head coach Steve Nash will be configuring a rotation around his Big 3 of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden.
While most of the media interest on Monday centered on Irving and his vaccination status (folks, he’s not vaccinated, otherwise he would have been at Barclays Center for the event instead of on Zoom), which I delved into over the weekend, training camp really isn’t about the stars or even the primary rotation members. All Kyrie and other key players have to do now is stay healthy.
No, the preseason, including the four exhibitions starting on Sunday at the Lakers, is all about the bottom of the roster. Who will be the apple in Nash’s eye to secure Brooklyn’s final slots and the open two-way contract?
Of the 19 players in camp, Brooklyn has 16 under NBA contracts, rookie second-round draft pick Kessler Edwards on a two-way contract, and David Duke Jr. and Devontae Cacok on Exhibit 10 deals, so some folks will have to go to get down to 15 plus two two-ways by the start of the regular season.
The betting money seems to indicate that wing DeAndre’ Bembry will be the odd man out since only $750,000 of his $1.9 million contract is guaranteed until December 15, per NetsDaily.com. The Nets, meanwhile, would be on the hook for the full $3.6 million (less the offset if signed elsewhere but don’t forget to tack on the luxury taxes) in the final year of forward Sekou Doumbouya’s rookie contract should he be waived. I would say that none of the four veterans Brooklyn General Manager Sean Marks signed to veteran minimum deals—Blake Griffin, LaMarcus Aldridge, Paul Millsap, and James Johnson—are in danger from the axe barring a tragic misfortune in camp.
That leaves Bembry versus Doumbouya. The final call may come down to something as simple as three-point shooting, since both Bembry and Doumbouya are well-regarded defenders. Doumbouya is three inches taller and seven years younger, but Bembry’s physicality makes him at least an equivalent rebounder and at this stage, the Nets might actually prefer a player with more experience to fill an important role in a big-game pinch.
Unfortunately, both players were bricklayers from deep last season, with Bembry holding an unimpressive 26.4-22.6% three-point shooting percentage advantage. The corners, where the Nets complementary players should be able to feast this season with so much focus on the Big 3, did not prove to be any more comfortable for either candidate, with both players’ efficiencies around 25%, per NBA.com.
If one of them breaks out from behind the arc this preseason, I would think they’d have a tremendous leg up in the battle for the final roster spot. Then again, don’t believe that what you see in the preseason will translate to regular season games—I remember watching Taurean Prince light it up two years ago and presumed he was destined to shoot 50% from 3 that season. As you know, I was way off.
My gut tells me that in the end, the Nets will decide that Bembry is too similar to Bruce Brown and they’ll lean towards a developing asset for the slot. As for the second two-way contract, Marks has a history of keeping it open until the last minute, so the winner may not even be in this camp.
Let the competition begin.
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Since I wrote hundreds of words about it over the weekend, here’s just a few final thoughts on the Irving debacle—you know, the one where he claimed he didn’t want to “create more distractions, more hoopla, more drama”--that was otherwise known as Nets Media Day:
Irving kept referring to the entire “is he or he isn’t he vaccinated” episode as “private,” which sounds like a fair request on its face but is absolutely farcical. If Kyrie was playing basketball with friends for fun on his driveway, then he would absolutely be entitled to all the privacy he desires.
Professional performance spectacles, however, are public. Irving is accountable to his employer, his teammates, and to all the people who pay to watch him create art on the court. He earns a sizable salary for it, approximately $35 million for this season. If the rules, however unfair he believes them to be (as I noted yesterday, it’s illogical that only home team players in New York City and San Francisco are required to be vaccinated while visiting team players are exempt), demand certain health and safety protocols to be met, that is what you signed up for. I’m sorry, but choosing to miss 40-plus games because you won’t get the vaccine is both public information AND a distraction.
One more not-so-minor item that needs to be reiterated: We are in a PUBLIC HEALTH CRISIS. Irving’s vaccination decisions could affect all those around him, and so on down the line.
Earth to Kyrie: Take one for the team—the Human team. Compared with the risks of contracting COVID-19, the downside of the vaccine is a minor pin prick and maybe a short-term headache. Ask the 184 million fully-vaccinated Americans about it, not some idiot on the internet.
If Irving does not get vaccinated before preseason starts the spotlight needs to start going on Nash, Marks and Tsai.
Marks and Nash have a history of being noncontroversial and protecting Nets players. Even when Irving disappeared last season Marks stayed safe and said nothing bad of it.
However, if Irving does not get vaccinated Marks needs takes a stand (along with Nash and Tsai) and be clear that Irving is in the wrong. I know he doesn't want to rock the boat, but saying nothing and protecting Irving only amplifies the message that not getting vaccinated is an appropriate choice - and it is not.
People are dying - and the population that is not getting vaccinated is a major part of the reason why. If Marks, Nash and Tsai do not stand up for vaccinations it would be a stain on the organization forever.