Time for Nets to see what they have
nabers, Daniels put on show for Big Blue at LSU Pro Day
THE NETS know what the score is — or more accurately, what the standings are. They haven’t been eliminated yet, but they’ve reached the point of this season where they need to start planning for next season.
It’s time to play the kids. It just so happens that in the Nets’ case, playing the kids doesn’t have to equal raising the white flag. Or lowering expectations.
That didn’t mean benching all their starters in Wednesday’s 122-119 overtime win in Washington, and it won’t mean tanking in a year they don’t even have their own first-round draft pick. But it does mean a dose of youngster Trendon Watford, and a sprinkling of rookies Jalen Wilson and Noah Clowney.
And giving both the front office and interim coach Kevin Ollie — or whoever is in charge of this team next season — a chance to see what they have. Or don’t have.
“Our young guys, [we’ve] got a bright future with our young guys,” Ollie said before tipoff Wednesday. “They’re coming up, stepping up and playing very, very well with Noah and J-Will, and T-Wat played very well the last game. And just execution down the stretch was great.
“So I’m just gonna keep learning about them and they’re learning about me and the things that I want from this team and it’s always a learning evolution with anything, with life and in basketball. So, learning about them each and every day.”
Sadly, this season has gone from winning to reconnoitering. But yes, the Nets — from Ollie to GM Sean Marks — absolutely need to learn about their youth. The Nets are still 5 ½ games behind Atlanta for the last play-in spot with just nine dates left on their schedule, and a tragic number is down to five. It’s clearly evaluation time, admit it or not.
Leading scorer Cam
Thomas is just 22. Starting center Nic Claxton is 24, but an unrestricted free agent.
Day’Ron Sharpe, 22, has proven a viable backup. But what is Clowney, at just 19?
Clowney was a plus-6 — second-best on the team — with four rebounds against the Wizards in just 10:36. And two nights earlier he’d logged nine minutes alongside Claxton in Toronto during which Brooklyn had a stellar 52.6 net rating. The pair shot 11 of 15, grabbed 11 boards and outscored the Raptors by 13.
“It was great that they trusted me with the minutes,” said Clowney, who has spent much of the season in the G-League. “My first goal is to guard. I don’t like when people score and I’m on the floor and I feel like I could’ve helped it. So yeah, that was my first mindset, and offensively just playing confident, free, not being nervous or scared. Just hooping.
“I played the 4 in college, so I’m in familiar territory. Now, it has been a while since I’ve done that, like navigating screens, things like that; I ain’t done that in a long time. But as far as playing with them, it opened up a lot of different opportunities for me. … So, just hooping.”
Wilson got just his second start Monday, with 12 points and five boards in 30 minutes (plus-8). In those starts he averaged double-digit scoring and .429 shooting from deep. But both rookies are under contract for next season; Watford isn’t.
Still just 23, Watford is intriguing. He backed up seasons-highs of 19 points and seven boards in Toronto with a 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting Wednesday.
In eight games logging at least 20 minutes, he’s averaged 13.4 points, 5.3 boards and .520/.400/.852 splits. A free agent on a minimum deal, Watford’s playing time has waxed and waned. Now should be more of the former.
“[I love] his energy. He’s always in attack mode. Very confident basketball player,” Ollie said. “He’s more like a point forward. I can play on that point, I can play him all over the court which gives us a lot of options.”
Options the Nets need to spend these final weeks weighing.
Joe Schoen and Brian Daboll stood Wednesday on the fertile ground where the Giants last found what they might be able to add again with Malik Nabers.
By showcasing his 42-inch vertical leap, an unofficial 4.35-second 40yard dash, a 10-foot 9-inch broad jump and catch-and-run big-play ability, Nabers made the case at LSU’s Pro Day that he can provide the perimeter game-breaking element the Giants have been missing in the five seasons since trading the electric Odell Beckham Jr.
Actually, every pass that jumped out of quarterback Jayden Daniels’ hand and landed in Nabers’ fingers was doubly noteworthy for Schoen, Daboll and other general managers and head coaches of teams with topsix draft picks who were inside LSU’s practice facility. The Patriots, who will pick three spots ahead of the Giants at No. 3, sent nine talent evaluators, per SI.com.
Giants’ representatives dined Tuesday night with Nabers, The Post confirmed, and reportedly set up one of Daniels’ first six one-onone team meetings for after his throwing showcase.
Nabers told reporters at Pro Day that dinner with the Giants went “great.”
“Those are some funny guys to be around,” Nabers added. “I opened up my personality to those guys. It’s not hard to talk to them. They know me personally as a player . ... I heard Brian, the head coach, loves the way I play. It’s just great to be around the atmosphere with those guys again.”
In case he somehow slips to pick No. 10, Nabers also met Tuesday with the Jets, per NFL Network.
“Yeah, it would be nice to have a No. 1 receiver,” Schoen said this week. “I think every team would sign up with that, and especially with an offensive head coach.”
Quarterback and receiver are the two most likely positions that the Giants will address in the first round, whether at No. 6 or in a trade-up scenario. The LSU combination produced jaw-dropping numbers during the season, including Daniels’ 34 touchdowns and zero interceptions on 15-plus yard passes, and Nabers’ FBS-leading 34 plays of 20-plus yards, according to Pro Football Focus.
The Heisman Trophy-winning Daniels was first to greet Nabers with a celebratory chest bump Wednesday after his blazing 40-yard dash. Two hours later, with Daniels wearing a sweatshirt with cancer-stricken LSU teammate Greg Brooks Jr.’s name and number on the back, the duo connected on sideline bombs, incutting seams and slant-and-go’s over the course of 56 scripted passes.
“The Giants desperately need some explosion in their offense,” one NFL scout told The Post. “Nabers definitely brings it on the perimeter — or to the slot, where he actually did most of his damage. Every touch can go the distance.
“You hear Lamar Jackson [comparisons] floated a lot with Daniels. That’s putting heightened expectations on him — he’s not the athlete Lamar was coming out of college, but he’s a more advanced passer, and a scrambler. I think Jayden will give you hope to win in any situation because of his unique combination of running and passing abilities.”
It would be a surprise at this point if the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Daniels — one of four quarterbacks who could be top-six picks — slipped to No. 6 when he could go as high as No. 2 to the NFC East rival Commanders. Nabers is competing against fellow receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. — who did not participate in the NFL combine or Ohio State’s Pro Day — to be the first non-quarterback selected.
Nabers set the LSU all-time receiving yards record — more than Beckham and more recent firstround picks Ja’Marr Chase and Justin Jefferson.
If, as Schoen teased, the Giants still are open to trading down in the first round, LSU receiver Brian Thomas Jr. could enter the equation. The projected mid-first-round pick’s performance Wednesday — just like his production during the season — was overshadowed by Nabers, but he looked impressive nonetheless catching vertical routes after standing on NFL combine numbers, including a 4.33-second 40-yard dash.
The Giants’ would have had another scouting double-dip Thursday but Rome Odunze will not participate at Washington’s Pro Day, per
ESPN. That leaves quarterback Michael Penix Jr. -- regarded as a likely second-round pick due to medical concerns -- as the main attraction. Along with Harrison and Habers, Odunze, who dazzled in drills and testing at the Combine, completes the trio of receivers expected to be top-10 picks.
“There are a lot of intricacies to Rome’s game,” ESPN draft analyst Matt Miller told The Post. “He’s a technician, and the way that he fights for the ball is crazy.”
Daboll and Schoen instead could choose to head east Thursday to North Carolina, where quarterback Drake Maye will have a Pro Day workout. Maye is training under David Morris, who works with Giants quarterback Daniel Jones and is close friends with Eli Manning.
“We’re going to try to draft the best player that we can draft at 6 or higher or lower,” Daboll said. “There’s a lot of work that needs to be done.”