I don't follow the Nets.... at all
Can someone do an analysis of them this upcoming season that's more in depth than they suck
Figured I'd tackle this in a different fashion...first, by looking at who many seem to think will be their competition for worst team in the league.
Indy:
PG: Darren Collison, Corey Joseph, Joe Young, Edmond Sumner
SG: Victor Oladipo, Bojan Bogdanovich
SF: Lance Stephenson, Glenn Robinson III, Alex Poythress
PF: Thad Young, Domantas Sabonis, TJ Leaf
C: Myles Turner, Al Jefferson, Ike Anigbogu
Why people think that team will be as bad as the Nets is beyond me. With how the east is, that team might still compete for the 7th/8th seed. Turner is really good, Collison and Joseph rotation at PG is solid enough in the east, Thad is still a good player when healthy, and they have a lot of skill off of their bench between Bogdanovich, Sabonis, and Big Al. Obviously they could trade vets like Collison, Stephenson, Thad, and Big Al, but right now, this is what they are heading into the season with.
Orlando:
PG: Elfrid Payton, Shelvin Mack, DJ Augustin
SG: Evan Fournier, Arron Afflalo
SF: Jonathan Simmons, Terrence Ross, Mario Hezonja, Wesley Iwundu
PF: Aaron Gordon, Marressee Speights, Jonathan Issac
C: Nikola Vucevic, Bismack Biyombo, Khem Birch
Already had a lot of young talent, and added Mack, Afflalo, Simmons, and Speights to that group, on top of the #6 pick in the draft, all while being coached by some many consider to be one of the best in the league in Frank Vogel. I think they are a playoff team this year. Ross and Speights off the bench provides them scoring depth, Biyombo, Afflalo, Mack, Simmons, Gordon gives them some interesting defenders as well.
Atlanta:
PG: Dennis Schroder, Malcolm Delaney
SG: Kent Bazemore, Marco Belinelli, Tyler Dorsey
SF: DeAndre' Bembry, Taurean Prince, Nicolas Brussino
PF: Ersan Ilyasova, John Collins, Luke Babbitt
C: Dewayne Dedmon, Mike Muscala, Miles Plumlee
Don't think they make the playoffs, but Coach Bud's system time and time again has overachieved in the regular season, so who knows with them. Schroder is a good player, we all wanted Dedmon, Bazemore is a solid primary defender, and they have a lot of young athletes playing in a fast paced system.
New York:
PG: Frank Ntilikina, Ramon Sessions, Chasson Randle
SG: Tim Hardaway, Courtney Lee, Ron Baker, Damyean Dotson
SF: Carmelo Anthony (?), Michael Beasley, Mindaugas Kuzminskas
PF: Kristaps Porzingis, Lance Thomas
C: Willy Hernangomez, Kyle O'Quinn, Joaquim Noah
Lot of uncertainty with them because of Carmelo, so their roster can look drastically different by the time the regular season starts...but I'm sure they are excited about their young trio of Porzingis, Hernangomez, and Ntilikina. They have little to no depth, especially since its most likely that they ship off their vets for assets come February, such as Lee or O'Quinn. Too much higher quality talent compared to Brooklyn, so it will take legit effort to be as bad as the Nets, which they may do if they shut guys down.
Chicago:
PG: Kris Dunn, Jerian Grant, Cameron Payne, Ryan Arcidiacono
SG: Zach LaVine, Dwyane Wade (?), David Nwaba, Antonio Blakeney
SF: Denzel Valentine, Justin Holiday, Paul Zipser
PF: Bobby Portis, Lauri Markkanen
C: Robin Lopez, Cristiano Felicio
This is the team to watch for. Sounds like Wade won't be there at all, and I wouldn't be surprised to see them move Lopez to open up PT for Markkanen later in the season. Young guys with bust potential, young guys with significant injury histories, and a lot of unproven talent. They are going to be bad this year. But I think their overall record hinges on if they shut down LaVine towards the end of the season to tank or not. A lot of people forget that he was looking better than Wiggins when he went down with the knee injury. Not to mention, their coach is still Fred Hoiberg.
Sacramento:
PG: George Hill, De'Aaron Fox, Frank Mason III
SG: Buddy Hield, Bogdan Bogdanovic, Malachi Richardson
SF: Garrett Temple, Vince Carter, Justin Jackson
PF: Zach Randolph (?), Skal Labissiere, Harry Giles
C: Willy Cauley-Stein, Kosta Koufos, Georgios Papagiannis
They didn't play bad basketball at all after the Cousins trade, as it allowed a lot of younger guys like Hield, Cauley-Stein, and Labissiere to play big minutes, and Dave Joerger got to put more of his stamp onto the team. And they have added George Hill, Vince Carter, and, potentially, Zach Randolph to that group, depending on how his arrest turns out. Really the only thing they have going against them is that they play in the west. Their 4 man guard rotation of Hill, Fox, Hield, and Bogdanovich should be interesting to watch though. They also added 3 more 1st round picks to their depth, in Fox, Jackson, and Giles.
Phoenix:
PG: Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Knight, Tyler Ulis
SG: Devin Booker, Davon Reed, Elijah Millsap
SF: TJ Warren, Josh Jackson, Jared Dudley, Derrick Jones
PF: Marquese Chriss, Dragan Bender, Alan Williams
C: Tyson Chandler, Alex Len (?)
A lot of weird talent, and a lot of different directions they can go. Do they trade one of Bledsoe or Knight? Do they move their vets like Chandler and Dudley? Does Alex Len sign his QO or sit out the season? Do Chriss and Bender take the next step? Bledsoe, Booker, Warren, and Chandler is a solid starting lineup at 4 of the 5 spots, but they have a lot of unproven young guys behind that, and a pretty awful coach in Earl Watson. I can see them surprising people, but I can also see them potentially being the worst team in the west.
And with that...
Brooklyn:
PG: Jeremy Lin, Sean Kilpatrick, Spencer Dinwiddie
SG: D'Angelo Russell, Caris LeVert, Isaiah Whitehead, Joe Harris
SF: Allen Crabbe, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, DeMarre Carroll
PF: Trevor Booker, Quincy Acy
C: Timofey Mozgov, Jarrett Allen
Right off the bat...who is their best player? Russell? Lin? Crabbe? If it's Russell, I'm not sure a young chucker is who you want as your best player. If it's Lin, your team is pretty bad. If it's Crabbe, then you should probably cry yourself to sleep at night, because your teams best player is Allen Crabbe.
They lost their 2 leading scorers from last season in Lopez and Bogdanovic.
They have a lot of mediocre young guys who have proven something and may prove more in the future, in Kilpatrick, Whitehead, and our boy Joe Harris. But those guys don't really move the scale up for a team.
A few young guys with some decent upside in Russell, LeVert, Hollis-Jefferson, and Allen...but one has been wildly inconsistent, while playing with arguably better talent. One has had multiple foot problems the past few years. One is a wing defender with an interesting offensive skill set, but who can't shoot a lick still. And one is a rookie.
They have vets like Timo and Carroll, who just aren't the same anymore after injury issues.
Trevor Booker is a solid player, but again, he should be your 7th or 8th best player, and 3rd or 4th best big...not perhaps your 3rd or 4th best player, and by far your best big.
Kenny Atkinson is a good coach. He is a pace and space coach...but the roster isn't built for him just yet IMO. Played at the fastest pace in the league last year and attempted the 4th most 3s in basketball last season, but were the 5th worst team by %.
They added Russell, who to this point is a 35% from 3 in his career. Carroll, who is coming off a 34.1% from 3 season, and is a career 36% shooter from 3. And Crabbe, while he is a career 41% shooter from 3 and is coming off a 44% season, benefited from the attention drawn by Lilliard and McCollum in Portland...who does he have in Brooklyn to draw attention away from him in order to get consistent open looks at 3s?
And lastly. If you pace and space, you better be able to defend. And this is the crux of the Nets roster right now. Their best defensive player, Hollis-Jefferson, is a 23% shooter from 3. D'Angelo Russell couldn't stop me from scoring, and he is in line to get major PT as they try to develop a young core. Timo is no longer what he was with us before the knee injury. Carroll is still a decent wing defender, but he can hardly move and seems to have lost his shot.
When Trevor Booker is your best defensive big who can play within your system effectively, you are in trouble.
They have maybe the least amount of high quality talent in the league. They're going to be in the bottom 5, record wise again, most likely bottom 3. They've done well for themselves in adding young talent with no draft picks by eating unwanted salary, but that young talent isn't game changing talent...at least not yet, if it ever will be.