The euphoria from the Nets' offseason is over. It's time to get down to business.
Forward Kevin Durant and point guard Kyrie Irving, the two biggest free agent acquisitions in franchise history, were introduced to the media Friday, a week before Brooklyn opens its four-game preseason slate against Franca of Brazil at Barclays Center.
However, the Nets absolutely won't have Durant on Friday. He is expected to be out for the season while recovering from his Achilles surgery, according to general manager Sean Marks. And they may also be missing Irving, who suffered a facial fracture while playing pickup ball a week ago.
Fortunately, though he has yet to practice as of this writing, Irving's injury is not considered serious. He'll be back on the floor at some point to lead Brooklyn's backcourt alongside rising star Caris LeVert and with perennial Sixth Man of the Year candidate Spencer Dinwiddie. It's the strength of this team.
The other three positions, however, are in flux. In some cases, like with the battle at center, that's not a bad thing. Power forward? Well, that's been a tricky situation in Brooklyn for quite some time.
Here's how I expect the training camp battles to be sorted out, barring injuries.
CENTER
Joining Durant and Irving for a 4:16 a.m. phone call June 30 was their good friend, center DeAndre Jordan. All three free agents quickly decided to call Brooklyn their new home. Durant, whenever he returns, and Irving are set in their starting roles. Jordan, 31, will have to compete for it.
The Nets have a lot invested in Jarrett Allen, 21. The development of Brooklyn's first-round pick (22nd overall) in the 2017 draft into an elite rim defender and rim roller has proceeded as planned. The Nets will tell you at every turn how impressed they were that Allen hit the gym hard this offseason and volunteered to play in the Las Vegas Summer League, where he dominated like any two-year NBA starter should.
Coach Kenny Atkinson, however, can't just hand the job to Allen. Not when the Nets were manhandled at the position all last season, including during their five-game Eastern Conference quarterfinal loss to Joel Embiid and the 76ers. Defensive rebounding was a huge issue. The Nets finished 23rd in the league in defensive rebounding percentage (72%) and 27th in second-chance points allowed per game (14.4), per NBA.com.
I'm not pinning all the blame on Allen, given Brooklyn's relatively undersized lineup and the strategy to have him hunt blocks in help defense, but the team did rebound better with Allen off the floor (74.2%) versus on (70.1%). Allen placed 19th among 31 centers who averaged more than 25 minutes per game with a 20.8% defensive rebounding rating. Since he was always the tallest Net on the floor by at least 3 inches, that figure should have been much higher.
Though his stint chained to the bench following his midseason trade to the Knicks limited him to 69 games, Jordan finished second in the league in defensive rebounding percentage at 31.5. I'm not going to say that Jordan is a better rim protector than Allen, but he's not Enes Kanter, either. The Nets would reap additional defensive benefits from Jordan's bulk and guile that would offset any athleticism deficit compared to Allen.
If the Nets are playing this season with any sense of urgency — and they should — Jordan should win out in the end.
Oh, and for anyone contemplating playing both simultaneously, stick a fork in it. No plunger in the world could unclog the paint in that toilet bowl of an offensive scheme.
POWER FORWARD
The bane of any Nets fan's existence. With Durant out, Wilson Chandler suspended for the first 25 games due to PED usage and Rodions Kurucs' situation a ticking time bomb following his arrest last month for alleged assault on his girlfriend, the power forward position is once again a monster question mark.
The Nets added former Knick Lance Thomas to their training camp roster, but the team already has the league maximum of 15 guaranteed contracts. As opposed to eating one of them, Marks will more likely use a 16th slot that is allowable once a player is suspended five games. That should be Thomas' window.
However, Thomas, 31, is not an NBA starter. Reports from the Nets' first few practices indicate that Atkinson is testing out Taurean Prince, a wing in Atlanta prior to his trade to Brooklyn in the Allen Crabbe salary dump. Prince, 25, is a career 38% 3-point shooter and drew Marks' praise for his work this summer. Having him space the floor on the opposite side of NBA 3-point champion Joe Harris while Irving and LeVert pressure the paint would make the Nets' offense formidable.
Ah, but what about defense and rebounding? Prince, at 6-foot-8, is a DeMarre Carroll clone, as much as he seemed to dislike the comparison when asked. He's tough, but he's never averaged more than five defensive rebounds per 36 minutes. The Hawks were nearly six points per 100 possessions better defensively when Prince was off the floor versus on last season.
What are the alternatives for the first five games if Kurucs, the Nets' good-luck charm last season, is rendered unavailable? Atkinson mentioned that folks shouldn't count free agent acquisition David Nwaba, a 6-foot-4 defensive specialist and career 32% 3-point shooter, out of the mix. Those of us still ducking bricks from Treveon Graham and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in our sleep should be very concerned.
SMALL FORWARD
This one is the least complicated. If Prince settles in at the four, Harris, who was solid for Team USA at the FIBA World Cup, owns this job. If Atkinson goes elsewhere at power forward, then let the intense competition begin.
It's what training camp is supposed to be about.
For a FAN's perspective of the Nets, Devils and Jets, follow Steve on Twitter @SteveLichtenst1.
