For the first time in what seems like an eternity, the Nets have some reasons to be cautiously optimistic.
When they traded Bojan Bogdanovic to Washington for a first round pick and the dead salary of Andrew Nicholson back in February, the Nets front office revealed their rebuilding approach: acquire draft assets by acting as the league’s salary junkyard and take shots on a ton of youngsters. That strategy ultimately yielded D’Angelo Russell this past summer, as Brooklyn traded Brook Lopez to the Lakers for Russell and Timofey Mozgov’s albatross. Russell is the first high upside young guy to join the Nets since … Derrick Favors in 2010? Brook Lopez in 2008? Yikes!
The Nets rounded out the summer by getting DeMarre Carroll and a lottery-protected first-rounder from Toronto and flipping Nicholson’s dead weight deal for Allen Crabbe’s hefty contract. Brooklyn might have been wise to avoid acquiring Crabbe and limiting its 2018 cap flexibility — with the cap plateauing and league-wide cash quickly evaporating, free space is once again precious. The Nets could have extracted some serious assets from teams looking to duck the tax or make a splash in 2018 free agency.
In any case, the (relative) success or failure of Brooklyn’s upcoming season will ultimately boil down to whether or not Russell demonstrates real improvement throughout the year. The Nets are taking a chance on him and they’ll give him more free rein than he ever had in Los Angeles. Brooklyn’s style suits Russell’s game well, so he’ll get an opportunity to play to his strengths. Last year Kenny Atkinson emphasized the 3-pointer, so D’Angelo will finally get a chance to run pick-and-roll with a spaced floor and show off his court vision. Russell is also a solid catch-and-shoot player and hit 37.0 percent of such attempts from 3-point land last season. He can be effective without the ball in Brooklyn’s offense.
Russell needs to improve in a number of areas if he’s going to become a legit franchise cornerstone for the Nets. So far in his career, he hasn’t been particularly effective at getting to the rack and finishing in traffic. Russell has also scored at a sub-par rate in transition, which is concerning given Brooklyn’s tendency to play fast and push the ball as often as possible. If Russell flashes improvement in these facets of his game, he can become lethal on offense.
In terms of overall roster construction, the Nets are deeper across the board despite trading their most effective player in Brook Lopez. The injury plagued season of Jeremy Lin really killed the team last year. Not having a functional point guard is one of the most destructive roster holes an NBA team can face. With Isaiah Whitehead and Spencer Dinwiddie bearing the brunt of Brooklyn’s playmaking duties last season, the Nets ranked 28th in offensive efficiency.
With Russell and a healthy Lin presumably starting at the guard spots, the Nets will be getting competent backcourt play for big portions of games (on offense at least). They might actually have a backcourt logjam, with Crabbe, Caris LeVert and Sean Kilpatrick all competing for minutes at the two spot. The overall rotation breakdown will largely depend on how Brooklyn uses Crabbe, Carroll and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. If Carroll plays big minutes as a small ball four, Crabbe will probably be the main small forward, opening up minutes in the backcourt.
While the team’s guard spots are overcrowded, Brooklyn’s frontcourt is barren. Trevor Booker and Timo Mozgov — not exactly a dynamic duo — will likely start at the four and five spots respectively. The Nets have no good backup options on the roster, so rookie Jarrett Allen should get a chance to shine throughout the year.
Overall, the Nets are in decent shape moving forward. They will finally get their own draft pick back in 2019. They have no incentive to tank this year and they could probably get in ballpark of 30 wins if their primary contributors can stay healthy.
Next: Brooklyn's plan is panning out with the addition of Russell
Again, the next two seasons will really be about Russell. If he’s for real the Nets can slowly start building a playoff team around him. If he disappoints they might have to pivot yet again. For now let’s enjoy the positive organizational changes the Marks administration has made in Brooklyn. The front office is taking a long view here. That’s a nice change of pace from the win-now, ad hoc organizational structure that sank the Nets in the first place.
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