Brooklyn Nets to shut down Brook Lopez, Thaddeus Young
By John Buhler
The Brooklyn Nets have no incentive to tank, but will shut down starting center Brook Lopez and starting forward Thaddeus Young for the rest of the season.
Regardless of having absolutely no incentive to tank in 2015-16 given that their first round pick belongs to the Atlantic Division rival Boston Celtics, the hapless Brooklyn Nets will reportedly shut down its two best players in starting center Brook Lopez and starting forward Thaddeus Young for the Nets’ final six games of the 2015-16 NBA season.
Nets interim head coach Tony Brown told ESPN’s Mike Mazzeo that he will hold out both Lopez and Young for the Nets’ final six games this season.
Lopez had a great season playing for a terrible basketball team in Brooklyn, averaging 20.6 points per game, 7.8 rebounds per game, and 1.7 blocks per game in what was a very healthy season for the offensively gifted, but often hurt Brooklyn big man.
Young played well for a bad Nets team too as a great scoring forward. He averaged 15.1 points and 9.0 rebounds playing for a team with the fourth-worst record in the NBA entering play Sunday.
While Brooklyn got 73 games out of both Lopez and Young this season, it wasn’t enough to get the lowly Eastern Conference franchise out of the quagmire that former general manager Billy King created with risky, short-sided trades.
Perhaps what new Nets general manager Sean Marks wants to do with Brooklyn’s final six games is to both play young players more to see what he has going forward entering this upcoming offseason, as well as ensure that his two star players enter the offseason with a clean bill of health.
While Marks didn’t trade either Lopez or Young during February’s NBA trade deadline, both veteran players will hold great trade value for Marks and his staff entering next season as Brooklyn continues on arguably the most daunting rebuilding project in the NBA today.
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