When is Rodions Kurucs returning?
I never thought that question had a chance to be uttered with any urgency this season, since I expected the 20-year-old forward from Latvia to spend most of his rookie season playing for the Nets’ Long Island G League affiliate.
However, like with center Jarrett Allen a year ago, Kurucs, albeit in a tiny sample size, has already exhibited more traits that are compatible with the modern NBA than the established players at his position on the Nets' roster.
Kurucs sprained his left ankle in Indiana on Oct. 20 and hasn’t played since, with no timetable for his return.
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The Nets have missed Kurucs’ energy, activity and floor spacing off the bench, even in their recent close-but-no-cigar losses to the Pelicans and Warriors.
His willingness to stick his neck out to secure rebounds and loose balls could have surely been of help Monday night, when the listless Nets were pulverized, 115-96, by the rival Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Typical Nets. Give two of the top three teams in the Western Conference all they could handle and then lay an egg at the hands of the lowly Knicks. (Note: I refuse to buy into the back-to-back excuse. Like coach Kenny Atkinson said, “This is Game 7, not 74.”)
Brooklyn was manhandled on the boards, finishing with 21 defensive rebounds to the Knicks’ 16 offensive rebounds, a god-awful ratio. The Nets are now 29th in defensive rebounding percentage (67.3), ahead of only the Dwight Howard-less Wizards.
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This is an ongoing trend, created in good part by an organizational philosophy that seems to undervalue power forwards. Since trading Thaddeus Young at the 2016 draft, the Nets have mainly experimented with Rondae Hollis-Jefferson at the position, pounding the undersized and poor-shooting 23-year-old’s square box of a game into the round hole that is the modern NBA.
With Hollis-Jefferson still working his way to full strength following an offseason adductor injury, Jared Dudley has started the first seven games at power forward. Dudley, 33, is a highly intelligent player, but he’s also too small to guard starting fours. The Nets have been a worse rebounding team this season with Dudley on the floor than off, thanks to his paltry three-rebounds-per-game average. Dudley is also shooting 3's well below his career 40 percent level. As such, he has no business in anyone’s starting lineup these days.
That said, the Nets did get off to fast starts in each of the last two games, only to see the tide turn as soon as Hollis-Jefferson subbed in. You could feel the flow of the Nets’ offense shut off, as opponents have no need to guard him above the foul line. Driving lanes closed instantly, and the Nets began settling for contested 3-pointers.
Whereas Hollis-Jefferson’s herky-jerky isolation drives used to make you take note of his potential, even when he missed, those forays are now just bad shots that lead to momentum-swinging transitions.
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Though a combined minus-30 in 44 minutes over the last two games, Hollis-Jefferson actually fared better in the second half on Monday when Atkinson tried him at center in a four-guard lineup. The switch enabled Hollis-Jefferson to boost his final raw numbers to 16 points and seven rebounds. His hustle and defensive activity were instrumental in Brooklyn cutting a 25-point deficit to 11 with 5:30 remaining, but the Nets got no closer.
Still, I stand by my opinion that Hollis-Jefferson, a restricted free agent after this season, should never have been considered for the Nets’ long-term solution at the four. That viewpoint became even more clear when I watched Kurucs play earlier this season.
Kurucs just looks like so much of a better fit. He is the Nets’ second-leading rebounder per 36 minutes behind rebounding machine Ed Davis, and the team has a defensive rebounding percentage of 79.2 when Kurucs is on the floor. (Again, very small sample size disclaimer.)
Kurucs, the Nets’ second-round selection (40th overall), had a controversial end to his career with Barcelona, who allegedly benched him when he made his NBA aspirations known. European players often have trouble adjusting to the NBA 3-point line, but Kurucs has hit on four of his first 10 from behind the arc. To me, his biggest adjustments will come on the defensive end. He’ll be abused just like Allen has been by everyone from Howard to, most commonly, the Knicks' Enes Kanter, who now has posted three consecutive double-doubles against Allen (and backups) after Monday night’s 15/15.
Sure, Kurucs is going to make mistakes and even look foolish at times. He has a tendency to take a few steps before dribbling when attacking closeouts, a no-no. Then again, it took Allen a while last season to get his field-goal percentage over 60 on dunk attempts. I watched him air-ball 2-footers. That didn’t alter the organization’s view about what it was looking for in a center in their system.
At 2-5 and with home games against playoff contenders Detroit, Houston and Philadelphia before heading west for four games, the Nets could soon see their season spiral out of control. While Brooklyn never uses the “T” word, why wouldn’t it be prudent to give Kurucs a longer look when he returns to action?