I have a terrible habit of going to the grocery store without a
list, something my mom's scowled at me for since I was in high
school. I'd pick out all the coolest brands I could find, parse
through the best produce, and by the time my mom was rummaging
through the family's food for the rest of the week, I'd be getting
an earful about how I spent $143 without actually being to
construct a meal for four. Planning has never really been my
thing.
"You bought rice, oyster sauce, and chicken, but no veggies or
eggs to actually make stir fry!"
And that sentence my friends, sums up where I'm at with the
Brooklyn Nets at the moment. Few contenders have flummoxed me more
than Brooklyn this season, as I routinely feel a push-pull among
the Nets' line-ups and roster construction that I've found intriguing since free
agency ended.
Inconsistency is the new consistency for the 21-22 Nets, as Tom
Bassine shows.
(He makes tremendous data visualizations and is a great dude,
strongly recommend following him if you don't
already.)
The Nets are tied for first with the Lakers
in total number of different starting lineups used this season
(22), and while they have certainly been impacted heavily by injury
and COVID absences, so have the majority of the teams in the
league.
The struggles to blend the roster existed prior to Joe Harris'
injury, which only complicated matters a bit further. With Kevin
Durant now out for roughly the next month, things get a bit
murkier.
Brooklyn started the year winning with staunch defense, as they
sought to work out the kinks of the offense and James Harden's
post-injury rust. While shot-luck and variance was notably in
Brooklyn's favor early in the year, their seventh ranked defense up
until Christmas wasn't a mirage. Outside of the top two and
sometimes three stars that Brooklyn hinges upon, the roster is
built largely with a defensive-slant. However, with Kyrie Irving's
return, and continued efforts to help James Harden find his rhythm,
Brooklyn has leaned more heavily into some of their offensive role
players and shifted rotations.
The Nets are second in offense since Dec. 26, but also have
plummeted to 27th in defense over that same stretch per Cleaning
the Glass.
So much of this revolves around their frontcourt. I wasn't fully
sure what to make of the team prioritizing the 4 and 5 spot as much
as they did, and in the way that they did this offseason, but I was
intrigued nonetheless. They built out a big rotation full of
utility, but the versatility seemed questionable and we've seen how
that has played out.
Paul Millsap never really got
the run I was hoping for, but he also just didn't quite play well
enough to warrant a bigger role. But, that's part of the issue. So
many of the Nets' frontcourt players can play positive NBA minutes,
but finding ways to play them together and get them all going —
while maintaining a modicum of stability in lineups — has been an
adventure.
Let's just run through some things that have been weighing
heavily on my mind thinking about this team.
Blake Griffin not being last year's Blake Griffin really
hindered this team early, and took away one of their few guys they
could rely on as a short-roll playmaker, shooter, screener, and
dribble hand-off operator. He's been better in the new year, but
he's hitting 26% of his threes since entering the rotation again in
early December, and defenses are playing him accordingly. He was
absolutely scorching against Milwaukee in the playoffs — and they
were still pretty comfortable sagging off or late contesting him.
Without defenses giving him solid close-outs that he can attack,
it's a lot harder for him to get the most out of his skill set at
this stage, so TBD on Blake as part of the rotation.
Bembry and
Brown
Starting the season without Kyrie and subsequently losing Joe
Harris has been extremely destructive for Bruce Brown's role this
season. His floater hasn't hit in quite the same way either,
partially due to the spacing of the team. I'm not inside Steve
Nash's head, but he has seemed overall a bit reluctant to rely on
Brown as a release valve, do everything quasi-big — again
influenced by the spacing issues already present. But really it's a
confluence of events that have been both vexing and frustrating
from a viewing perspective.
"Play Bruce Brown, he's good!"
"We don't have the spacing required to play him!"
"But, what about his defense and finding a way to get him going
again?"
"We need to get three bigs on the roster going
too!"
Outside of Harris, Irving, Durant and Mills, there is one player
on the roster shooting above league average from three on one or
more attempts per game (Kessler Edwards). Harden is shooting below
average from three, but is still defended like he's shooting 45%
from deep. Irving only plays in half the games, Harris is out as
previously mentioned; the team routinely has two non-shooters on
the court. More importantly, their players who aren't
shooting well are guarded like it, which matters more than the
percentages to a degree.
Last season, Bruce Brown was playing in lineups with Irving,
Harden, Harris and one of Jeff Green or Blake Griffin (41% and 38%
three-point shooters on volume). It was a much more inhabitable
environment for a fringey, margins-based offensive player — and
that environment just doesn't exist right now.
Add in Bembry who has had some really quality stretches, but
largely brings the exact same things as Brown: ball-handling, some
playmaking chops, perimeter defense and opportunistic
scoring.
It's not as simple as saying "pick one," but to an extent, it
feels like Brooklyn needs to prioritize which player they most
believe in, in the rotation moving forward. The offense has opened
up a bit more, and it's just so difficult to actually make the duo
work together when there's really only room for one of them.
Rolling, Screening, and
Lobs Oh My
One of the trends I've absolutely loved to follow over the past
few weeks has been the budding chemistry between James Harden and
rookie Day'Ron Sharpe. Sharpe is already the best and most dynamic
screener on the team, in regards to his ability to screen open
teammates, run DHO's and flow into the lane after setting solid
screens.
Despite it looking better and
more consistent lately, James Harden's burst has just not routinely
been what it was. Setting screens that actually generate separation
and give him a runway are huge in the success of his pick-and-roll
possessions. Sharpe is capable of that, making decisions on the
roll with the ball, and is solid around the rim. However, he
doesn't quite give Harden a lob threat (he can catch lobs, but he
needs to load up first), which makes it easier for opposing bigs to
get into his grill and play up on him in
coverages.
It's a small gripe, but it's
noticeable and makes me question a bit what his playoff utility
might look like — if there is any this season for him. I've quite
liked his defense and activity as well, just a really fun player,
but again, his emergence makes things murky for Brooklyn
again!
Nic Claxton had a really rough
stretch to start the year, missing the entirety of November. Now
he's out again with a hamstring injury. But he may be the most
important big on the roster. His ability to not just switch on
defense, but switch with purpose at a high level, unlocks what
proved to be one of Brooklyn's most important looks in the
postseason.
His offense has largely been lobs
and putbacks, but he started to really put together intriguing
stuff as a decision-maker in December and early January, looking
the part of a starting center for Brooklyn. Claxton had 14 assists
in 9 games from Christmas Day to Jan. 10 when he was injured, a
small number and sample size. However, 14 assists is 22% of his
career totals and tracked with what was visible on the court — much
improved decision-making and some capability to dish the ball on
the roll.
This is a minor showing in a
major area, one that's vital for Claxton unlocking himself as a
roller, and in helping to smooth out the offense when he's out
there. Whether or not he can continue to execute in that area once
he returns is huge for his ability to solidify his rotation spot,
and paper over some of the roster inflexibility.
Moving
Forward
So where does that leave the
Nets?
Durant, Harden and (sometimes)
Irving are of course locks in the rotation. Patty Mills has
cemented himself as has LaMarcus Aldridge, although his utility in
the playoffs is probably going to be match-up dependent to a
degree. Joe Harris is a lock when he returns from injury and
Claxton likely is as well.
Kessler Edwards has already
solidified his spot in my mind, as he's capable of linking together
lineups in a way that very few players on the roster are capable of
right now. He moves the ball, will take his threes (and make them
at a high level), and plays very good defense with size at the 3
and 4 spots.
His flashes have been extremely
encouraging, and I'm not really sure how his blend of skill and
size don't keep him from playing 20+ minutes per game the rest of
the regular season. While I'm unsure how to feel about a rookie
being a 7th or 8th man on a contender in the postseason, he's
playing well enough at the moment to really make you go
hmmmm.
Outside of that, I'm just not
really sure what to make of this team's rotation, and I'm not sure
Steve Nash does either considering how much tinkering he's been
doing throughout the season.
(Not at all to discredit him, I
think he's done a very good job this year; this is such a hard
roster to figure out.)
Cam Thomas really looks to be a
year or two away barring some substantial growth as he gets
comfortable operating off the ball. James Johnson does wily veteran
things and is a capable defensive option when switching everything,
but he has similar offensive drawbacks to Brown and Bembry. I have
loved the David Duke Jr. experience, but he's not there yet
consistently as a contributor on offense. Outside of a stretch in
November, Jevon Carter's jumper has just died and I have no idea
what happened there.
I'm just not really certain where
the Nets go to figure out who they are as a playoff team. We know
they can slant towards defense as Kevin Durant and James Harden
shoulder the load at home. We know they can run opposing teams off
the court with shot-making when Irving plays away games. How do
they figure out a way to blend the two — and can they, given the
personnel on the roster?
The best version of the Nets last year found themselves in the
playoffs. It's fair to reason that the Big 3 will be more locked in
and active defensively come playoff time yet again (James Harden,
please move your feet, or contest, or something), but they need to
find their backbone before then.
Looking to go to the hottest
concerts, sports, theater & family shows near you? Get 100%
guaranteed tickets to more than 125,000 live events from
TicketSmarter, the official ticket marketplace of
BasketballNews.com. Order online
now!