Jeremy Lin’s return and his impact on the Brooklyn Nets

After signing a $36 million deal to become the Nets’ starting point guard in the offseason, Jeremy Lin has had an inconsistent first season at the helm. Injuries have marred his and the team’s progress, but Lin has been everything the Nets paid him to be when he’s been on the floor. While nobody expects him to be an all-world point guard with his flaws, he brings a steadying force to a team who desperately needs it.

It’s no secret that the Nets have been mostly devoid of talent the past few years outside of Brook Lopez, so having even an average point guard to direct the offense is a huge upgrade.

Point guard is the most important position on the floor for a team’s offense and this is where Lin brings a vast majority of his value. His offensive talent is clear: he’s a solid pick-and-roll guard who can hit jumpers off the screen, get to the basket and find open teammates when the defense collapses on him. He’s developed a nice understanding with Lopez, who is his most-used pick-and-roll partner, getting the ball to him in spots that accentuate the big man’s offensive skills.

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Lin’s game is limited by his rather extreme one-handedness. He doesn’t do very well going to his left, though it’s been far better this season than in years past. To combat this, he’s adopted Chris Paul’s snaking path to the rim in the pick-and-roll. Lin will take it when he gets a screen to his left, but then jump back to his right after he’s gone around the screen, accomplishing two things: Keeping his defender on his back and getting back to his favorite right hand.

Lin uses the screen from Andrew Nicholson and cuts back to his right when Yogi Ferrell follows him over, keeping Ferrell behind him. Lin is now playing 2-on-1 against Salah Mejri with the rolling Nicholson. He gives a little pump fake, Ferrell jumps at it and Lin leans back for an easy jumper. This move works especially well with Lopez as the screener because of his newly found outside game. Lopez’s pick-and-pop skills open up the paint for Lin to work his magic, which is especially beneficial to a Nets team that struggles to space the floor. (Brooklyn ranks 26th in spot-up points per possession and 24th in 3-point field goal percentage, despite taking the fourth-most 3s per game).

Lopez provides a modicum of spacing in another, more subtle way: His floater from anywhere inside the free-throw line is tremendous. Just take a look at this shot chart:

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See all that red right in the middle of the floor? Lopez makes a living on floaters and push shots in that area, a lot of them off feed from Lin when Lopez stops his roll to the rim around the free throw line. Lopez doesn’t have to pick-and-pop all the way out at the 3-point line to help Lin’s drives to the basket, even stopping his roll short of the rim opens things up for his point guard.

Lopez sets the screen for Lin and rolls to the basket, occupying the defense’s attention. But as soon as Lin turns the corner, Lopez stops his roll, hanging out at the dotted line, where Lin knows to look for him. Dwight Howard was consumed with stopping Lin’s drive to the basket, as he should be, and Lopez gets an open floater, which he knocks down at a 53 percent clip — almost 10 percent better than league average.

Though it doesn’t happen all that often against the Nets, teams will sometimes blitz offenses in pick-and-roll that are heavily reliant on their point guard in an attempt to force somebody else to beat them. Lopez’s floater works wonders here as well, as rotating defenders will be too close to the basket when he’s rising up to knock it in from 10 feet.

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Lin’s offensive game has been a welcome addition to an abjectly awful Nets team this season. Even if the numbers don’t bear it out in the small sample of his minutes, the eye test shows a team that has a plan and executes pretty well when Lin is out there. As the team continues to rise from the dumpster fire they were after the Billy King era, Lin’s abilities will continue to be an important factor and his numbers will only improve as the Nets are able to spread the floor with shooters — and maybe, someday, even draft a player of their very own!