If this were a different moment in Nets history, like about four years ago, I could regale you about the exploits of Brooklyn’s rookies during an otherwise difficult stretch that has seen them lose five of their last seven games, including a 114-108 defeat in Portland on Monday night.
There would be a big shout out to guard Cam Thomas, who dropped a career-high 21 points on Monday on a rather low volume of 12 field goal attempts. More props would go to center Day’Ron Sharpe, who has been forced into action in the last two games due to the foot injury to LaMarcus Aldridge. Sharpe, who, like all of Brooklyn’s bigs, had difficulties with Portland’s mountain Jusuf Nurkic, made a major impact of his own with 14 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots in 24 minutes. Kessler Edwards contributed some nice plays and David Duke Jr. even knocked down his third three-pointer of the season. Overall, it was a promising performance from the young guns.
But we are not in 2018 anymore, where Nets fans cheered on advances in young player development above all else. This group has vastly higher expectations and it’s all about outcomes. A game like Monday’s should not need to be dependent on the play of so many rookies (plus third-year center Nic Claxton).
Unfortunately, the veteran supporting cast is just not carrying any weight. With the NBA Trade deadline a month away, it’s now on Brooklyn General Manager Sean Marks to fix his roster miscalculations. Whereas I joined many in hailing Marks’ offseason work to bring in low-cost veterans to supplement the Nets Big 3 of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving, it seems like he bent too much towards defensive-oriented players, leaving Head Coach Steve Nash low on three-point shooting floor spacers.
As I mentioned in my last post, there have been too many lineups where the Nets stars have been shackled by playing alongside multiple non-scorers. I knew in advance that Monday’s starting five (KD, Irving, Claxton, Duke Jr. and DeAndre’ Bembry) would be troublesome—that they were outscored by just six points in their 11.4 minutes as a unit seemed like a gift.
Running an NBA offense in these configurations is just so damn hard. Looking back, I’m amazed that the Nets, despite constant lineup volatility due to injuries and a COVID-19 outbreak within the team, did such a terrific job taking care of business against inferior opponents until just before the Christmas break. But the bad losses are now starting to pile up as the competition has gotten wise to the Nets’ limitations.
You can throw out all the excuses you want for this latest one, with the unprecedented East Coast/West Coast back-to-back and the injuries that kept Aldridge, Harden, and Joe Harris from suiting up. Irving, the part-time player, should have been fresh from four days off and Portland, which entered the contest at 15-24, also played the prior night and were down Damian Lillard, C.J. McCollum, and Norman Powell, making this more than a fair fight.
The Nets, though, were done in by the penetration of Portland’s backup guards, especially Anfernee Simons, which led to a first-half parade to the free throw line and countless wide open three-point look. Among the biggest weaknesses in all of Brooklyn’s rookies, and that includes Duke Jr., who for no reason I can fathom has earned Nash’s trust to start the last four games, is their inability to contain opposing ballhandlers, especially when confronted with screens.
Which begs the question: Is Bruce Brown in witness protection or something? Since Nash began the Duke Jr. experiment, the Nets top perimeter defender has played four non-garbage time minutes.
Even when (if?) the Nets get whole, with Harris and Aldridge joining the Big 3, that will still leave the team short of an on-ball defender. At this moment, with Brown in the doghouse and Bembry’s minutes unpredictable on any given night, Nash doesn’t seem to have one of his liking at his disposal—hence, the Duke Jr. experiment.
I’ve always maintained that fit, not simply talent, was Marks’ priority last offseason. I really thought Marks nailed it, but if Nash can’t rely on guys like Blake Griffin, Paul Millsap, James Johnson, Jevon Carter, Bembry and Brown to fill necessary roles, then mea culpa—I too got the analysis wrong.
How Marks ends up addressing the team’s shortcomings will be fascinating to watch. The Nets’ draft capital ledger lists exactly one pick—a protected 2025 second-rounder—which will make it hard for them to utilize one of their trade exceptions since you can’t combine it with an outgoing player. There’s always the buyout market, if Marks is forced to wait on that risk. As speculation builds for potential targets, I’ll consider them here.
Until then, the Nets will have to tread water as best they can. After a day off on Tuesday, they still have nine more games in the following 15 days to make up for postponements, starting with Wednesday’s showdown in Chicago.
Expect to see a lot more of the rookies in the next two weeks.
I can never understand Nash's plan. Brown is a winning player. Does winning things. When he's on the court good things happen. I understand his offensive shortcomings, but he makes up for with put backs, loose ball 50/50's and his pesky D. I'm perplexed by the David Duke love affair. i like the kid, has some spunk to him, but he cannot make shots - of any kind! He's RHJ with even less offensive prowess. This team is flat out unenjoyable to watch. Other than the 3 COVID games & the LA stint (even that the Laker game losing a 21 point lead wasn't fun ) this in an uneasy 2 and a half hour watch every single night. If you notice, all of this has coincided with teh disappearing act of Patty Mills. Go back to Orlando when he was dreadful and you'll find that every loss since then he's been terrible in. Its hidden because we cant rebound or defend anyone on the arc, but as he goes, so have the Nets gone. This is a very ordinary team and I see no immediate uprising coming. 0-8 against the best teams is as telling as it gets. I enjoyed the 2018 Nets 5x as much as I do watching this team!