'GELO SHOT
The Nets are convinced D’Angelo Russell wants to be great.
Whether he gets anywhere close is going to shape the upcoming season, and the franchise’s immediate future, making him the Nets’ biggest X-factor.
Instead of locking Russell up with a rookie-scale extension before the season, the Nets likely will let it ride and allow him to hit restricted free agency. How he plays — and the way his worrisome knees hold up — will steer general manager Sean Marks’ season-long strategy.
“He’s a talented guy,” Nets coach Kenny Atkinson said on ESPN Radio. “He’s got great court vision, incredible hand-eye coordination, really understands the game.
“He wants to be great. He’s been in our gym all summer. In the NBA it’s not an obligation: You’ve got to want to be there. So he’s been there. He’s been really working on his body. He’s got to make strides there. He’s got to get stronger. He worked on his explosiveness. But he’s proven it to me by being there every day the offseason.”
Russell had to make that commitment. He knew working on his body to withstand the rigors of a full season was a must. And if he hadn’t realized it before, he has learned it the hard way.
In his first three seasons Russell, still just 22, has seen his games missed climb from two to 18 to 34, having a potential career break- through sabotaged by a leftknee injury. After pouring in 20.9 points, 5.7 assists and 4.7 rebounds in his first 12 games for the Nets, arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from the knee forced him to miss the next 32.
Even when Russell returned, his next 13 appearances were off the bench, and his post-op production dropped to 13.7 points, 5.0 assists and 3.7 boards. Long term, his knees — both of them — bear watching. Soreness in the left knee forced him to miss 11 games in November and December of 2016-17, eventually requiring a platelet rich plasma injection. The right knee cost him three more games that January and another last Oct. 25.
Toughening up his knees — and body in general — has been priority No. 1 for Russell.
“D’Angelo, his big focus this offseason — and even towards the end of last season — was purely his health and his body and getting that right when he recovered from that knee surgery,” Marks said in a conference call. “His thing is being able to be robust and sustain an NBA season and be out on the court. That’s going to be paramount for him.
“As he moves forward, he needs to create those habits and take care of his body. And I think people will be pretty surprised when they see what he’s done. He’s worked extremely hard on purely that, strengthening up his body and so forth.”
The more toned upper body Russell has been sporting in his Instagram feed is proof he has been doing that, thanks to his daily workouts at the team facility.
“I’ve seen D’Angelo take considerable strides,” teammate Joe Harris told The Post.
While the Nets can clear $65 million in 2019 cap space (enough for two max free agents) it would require either trading Allen Crabbe or letting Russell and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson go. Russell playing the way he did pre-surgery could get him a big offer sheet, in Brooklyn or elsewhere. Repeating his post-op play would make his turnover and defensive woes tough to ignore — and make him the Nets’ most intriguing watch.