BEYOND THE BIG 3
Nets’ depth chart shows plenty of promise for 2021-22 season
NBA Summer League is nearing its end, which means training camp is around the corner. NBA teams are permitted only 20 players on their training camp roster. Here are the players competing for a spot on the Nets’ championship-hopeful roster.
PROJECTED STARTERS
James Harden, Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin.
No surprises here in the projected starting five. The Nets have yet to sign a veteran center, and if DeAndre Jordan isn’t jumping into a time machine, Steve Nash and his coaching staff have little other choice but to start Blake Griffin there. Again.
Griffin proved to be a viable option at the five last season as a versatile defender in a switching defense. He played within the confines of his game, continued to be an option in the post, in pick-and-roll scenarios and in transition, both as a break-starter and finisher. Yet where his versatility thrived, his size at the five proved to be a liability: Griffin averaged just five rebounds in the regular season and only six boards a night in the playoffs. Meanwhile the Nets got dogged in the paint and on the glass, an area Nets GM Sean Marks conceded must improve for the team to reach its full potential.
“We do have to address that,” Marks said of the team’s glaring rebounding weakness. “I don’t know that that needs to be addressed necessarily with an acquisition. It could come from within. It comes with a mindset, too.”
Yet the facts still remain: The Nets nearly beat the Bucks, who led the NBA in playoff rebounding and ranked second on the glass in the regular season, and they nearly beat them without Irving (ankle) and with Harden playing restricted on just one healthy hamstring.
Joe Harris has at least one half-season’s worth of good grace within the Nets organization, even if he was a no-show in Games 3-7 against the Bucks. He is still the reigning three-point percentage leader, will still create additional space for Irving, Harden and Durant to operate, and is still a seamless fit in this Nets offense, even if the team does have to sacrifice a bit of defensive potency while he’s out there.
FIRST OFF THE BENCH Patty Mills, Bruce Brown, Nic Claxton, James Johnson
Mills doesn’t need to prove his abilities in training camp. The world knows what kind of player he is.
It’s sickening that a team with a Hall of Fame backcourt was able to add an international scorer and NBA champion to its ranks, but in this country, the rich get richer.
Mills just led Team Australia to a bronze in the Tokyo Olympics, marking the country’s first-ever men’s basketball medal. With him on the roster, the Nets can buy either Harden or Irving an extra breath or two on the bench.
Brown projects to play a similar role as last season: He can start some nights given the team’s roster availability, but he will more likely be used as a defensive spark plug and energy injection off the bench.
With Jeff Green leaving for the Nuggets, the Nets need
a versatile forward who can play both the four or the five. Johnson checks the box, and his toughness and defensive IQ will surely earn him time as a small-ball five. His three-point shooting plummeted to 26% last season, though that percentage should increase with the quality of looks he’ll get alongside some variation of the Big 3.
And should Griffin’s capabilities at the five taper as the season goes, Claxton proved ready for a bigger role last season. The Nets don’t need him to shoot the three. They just need him to dunk, defend and defer to the stars around him.
RESERVES
● CAM THOMAS: It’s going to be difficult for Thomas to find minutes on this stacked roster, but where there’s a will, there’s a way. And where there’s talent, there’s an opportunity.
Thomas leads all of Summer League in scoring and has delivered on three clutch shots in four games. In the regular season, those shots will belong to Irving, Durant, Harden or Mills, though it’s good to know there’s a fifth player on the roster capable of taking and making those shots.
● ALIZE JOHNSON: Johnson is in his fourth Summer League in as many seasons, and knows nothing is promised, even if he signed a multi-year deal last season.
● JEVON CARTER: Carter’s talent may suggest he’s a bit low on this list, but here’s the reasoning: The bulk of the minutes at the one and two will go to Harden and Irving. Mills will instantly slot into the backup minutes, and the Nets will likely stagger the remaining off-guard minutes so one of Irving or Harden are on the floor 90% of the time. And if the Nets, for some reason, need additional scoring, they can go to Thomas.
Carter is a bulldog of a defender who found himself on the outside looking in for the Suns last season. He played in just seven playoff games, mainly in garbage time, but could be an option off the bench against dynamic opposing guards.
● DEANDRE BEMBRY: Bembry is another energy player and part of the overhaul that gave the Nets roster balance by adding more defensive playmakers. Bembry is a silently good pickup by Marks: He played with Trae Young in Atlanta, with Kyle Lowry, Fred VanVleet and Pascal Siakam in Toronto, and alongside Dennis Schroder in his first two seasons on the HAwks.
● DAY’RON SHARPE: The glass-cleaning big man could find himself in the rotation if his Summer League success translates over to the regular season. The Nets need help on the glass, and Marks singled out Sharpe (along with James Johnson) as players who could help them in that capacity. If they’re getting mauled on the boards, expect Nash to give his rookie big man out of UNC a try.
● DEANDRE JORDAN: There’s no reason to believe Jordan will get meaningful minutes this season. He was a DNP-CD most of the second half of last season and did not see any time in the playoffs. Jordan still has two years worth $20 million remaining on his contract, and while there’s no indication the Nets are looking to trade him, there’s no evidence that he’s going to live up to that salary any time soon.