According to Sean Marks, this is it. These will be your 2018-19 Brooklyn Nets.
Sure, the Nets general manager left the door open in his news conference Tuesday to make alterations, particularly on the edges (such as two-way contracts), but don’t expect anything major to go down between now and opening night.
So, say goodbye to Jeremy Lin, Isaiah Whitehead, Jahlil Okafor, Nik Stauskas, Quincy Acy, Dante Cunningham and Timofey Mozgov. They were replaced by Shabazz Napier, Kenneth Faried, Darrell Arthur, Ed Davis, Treveon Graham, and draft picks Dzanan Musa and Rodions Kurucs. Dwight Howard was on both lists, as he briefly became Nets property before receiving a buyout.
Neither side is overwhelming, which is why, for all the work Marks put in to turn over nearly half his roster, I don’t believe he moved the needle much, if at all. The Nets are still on track to finish among the bottom five to 10 teams in the league.
As I stated in my previous post, this season has all the appearances of a punt to get the ball back with better field position in the summer of 2019, when Brooklyn will have two first-round picks and as much as $70 million in cap space (depending on what they decide to do with the cap holds for their own free agents).
However, among the incoming group is a trio of wild cards. If they can take to coach Kenny Atkinson’s system, the Nets just might be able to stay on the slow road of season-to-season improvement:
1) Darrell Arthur
There’s a reason why journeymen Acy and Cunningham each averaged about 20 minutes per game last season. They are bigs who at least had to be guarded at the 3-point line. Unlike incumbent starting power forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Faried, who is 2-for-20 in his career from long distance, Arthur’s perimeter shot has to be respected. Arthur, who is 30 and listed at 6-foot-9 and 235 pounds, has made 41.2 percent of his 257 3-point attempts in the last three seasons, a rate I believe Atkinson would kill for from his four. Unfortunately, Arthur hasn’t been able to stay on the floor, missing 116 games in the same period. He made just 19 appearances last season due to knee issues, and the Nuggets’ logjam at his position. A reputed leader on and off the court, Arthur can possibly thrive in this environment. The Nets' offense is all about floor spacing. Arthur can provide that, if he stays healthy -- a big "if."
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2) Shabazz Napier
Napier is a natural candidate for this development program, even at 27. A fine shotmaker (42 percent from the floor, 37.6 on 3s last season), he has the tools to be a poor man’s Jeff Teague: a quick first step, good court vision, and great hands to create steals. Napier averaged a career-high 20.7 minutes per game last season in Portland, where he typically would play alongside either Damian Lillard or C.J. McCollum when one rested. The Blazers didn’t miss a beat, recording similar efficiencies (plus-2.1 versus plus-1.8 per 100 possessions) with Napier on the court versus off. That bodes well for anyone concerned that Napier wouldn’t fit on the court with Nets point guards D’Angelo Russell or Spencer Dinwiddie. I’m curious to see if Napier’s reputation for getting into ballhandlers proves true since the Nets point guards were so bad at navigating screens last season that they often went to Allen Crabbe to keep those guys from easily turning corners.
3) Ed Davis
The Nets are still awfully thin up front. Davis, at 6-foot 10, is the team’s second tallest player, an inch shorter than starting center Jarrett Allen. Allen, though, is only 20. You can bet there will be plenty of games when he’ll be pulled early due to foul trouble. Or just plain ineffectiveness. Davis, who was lured out of Portland (boy, does Marks love those Blazers!) in free agency, will be called upon plenty to provide defense, rebounding and strong finishes at the rim. Ask him to do anything else, however, and the package would be devalued. He won’t shoot 3s or make a bunch of exquisite passes out of the high post. He’s not a fearsome rim protector, but he knows when to contest shots and has a good nose for the ball on both ends. On offense, he’ll be less likely to take the stupid shots that so often doom this team.
I’m not expecting much from the Euro picks this season since it seems to take every import from Dirk Nowitzki to Giannis Antetokounmpo at least a year to adjust to the NBA game. Graham, 24, was signed Tuesday and is also a project. And I predict major disappointment from Faried, who’s “Manimal” days seem to be a distant memory.
The hope then is that the performances of Arthur, Napier and Davis are more resemblant of Marvin Williams, Teague and Clint Capella rather than Travis Outlaw, Shane Larkin and Thomas Robinson.