NETS GET SOME TLC
Luwawu-Cabarrot takes Spencer’s spot
Steve Nash and his Nets faced their first real dilemma: Who will replace the injured Spencer Dinwiddie in the starting lineup?
The answer for now is Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, who was named the starter Wednesday night against the Hawks. Nash, however, has maintained no rotation decisions are final, that what’s more important than who starts is who finishes.
Dinwiddie is out an indefinite amount of time, now scheduled to undergo surgery to repair the partially torn ACL in his right knee. In the first game he missed, the second game of a back-to-back, the Nets also rested both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. Nash went with a lineup constructed mostly of reserves, starting Luwawu-Cabarrot (TLC), Caris LeVert and Taurean Prince in their place alongside DeAndre Jordan and Joe Harris against the Grizzlies.
That lineup, albeit on heavy legs, couldn’t get the job done. The Nets lost in overtime to a Memphis team also short its two best players, Jaren Jackson Jr and Ja Morant, who injured his leg mid-game.
TLC earned the start by taking advantage of his opportunity off the bench in the Dec. 27 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, when he shot a perfect four-of-four from the field. Starting in place of Dinwiddie against the Grizzlies, he scored 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting.
That was without Brooklyn’s stars. This season is about who fits best alongside them, not who shines when they’re away.
Durant and Irving are expected to start the majority of Brooklyn’s games this season, and Nash said his decision on the starting lineup is rooted in who fits best, not necessarily who is the best. If it was about starting the five-best players, the easy answer would be starting LeVert. LeVert’s best fit, however, is off the bench, leading the second unit as the team’s next-best playmaker and scorer.
Dinwiddie is a difficult player to replace: He is a play-making combo guard who doubled as a versatile defender and tripled as the most athletic player on this team’s roster. In Brooklyn, it’s decisions, decisions, and this particular decision does not have an easy answer.
“We’ve got to make some decisions based on fit and rotations and giving us a chance to put the most cohesive units on the floor throughout the game,” Nash said pregame, “So there’s a lot of debate between us and trying to figure that out. And, you know, fortunately we have depth, so we can play some guys. Spencer’s a huge loss, but we have guys that can step in.”
The Nets have depth on their side. Luwawu-Cabarrot has been a revelation, but he is only the most efficient carbon copy of three-and-D wings on Brooklyn’s roster. Efficiency can be here today and gone tomorrow. Just ask the players TLC beat to the starting spot.
Prince is a career 36% three-point shooter who is off to a cold 2-of-12 shooting start to the season. Landry Shamet is another sharpshooter off to a dull start, just 3-of-18 from deep to kickoff the year despite shooting about 40% from three over the two prior seasons. Tyler Johnson hasn’t seen much time but is most like Dinwiddie in that he is a combo guard archetype.
Bruce Brown, like Dinwiddie, is a high-level defender who started 99 games through his first two Detroit Pistons seasons. Those Pistons did not have the talent of these Nets. Brown, like other Nets at the end of the rotation, is part of the “stay ready group” waiting for their opportunity on a deep Brooklyn roster.
In a game without Durant, Irving and Dinwiddie, Brown still recorded a DNP -- Coach’s Decision, his second of the year.
“We want to keep developing him, working on his shooting and playmaking. He has a reputation defensively. I think right now, our defense has been pretty strong, so that hasn’t necessarily been a weakness for us,” Nash said. “But we want to keep working with him and get him more comfortable with the group and if he continues to improve, you know, he’ll get opportunities. It’s that kind of year where guys are going to get opportunities”
On this day, the opportunity goes to Luwawu-Cabarrot, who undoubtedly deserves his shot. Opportunities in Brooklyn are fleeting: If TLC can’t consistently prove he’s no scrub, the Nets have others who are ready to step in.