SINK OR SWIM?

As Nets continue rebuild process, it’s time to see if they’re trending up or permanently stuck at bottom

W HEN Sean Marks took the Nets’ general manager job midstream in 2016, he knew full well the rebuild would be long and tough, if not impossible. The staggering 123 losses they have suffered over the past two seasons — the second-worst span in team history — showed just how tough.

But after using all their hoarded cap space this summer — taking on salary dumps in return for much-needed assets — the Nets need to show signs of improvement. While pundits peg them to still finish near the bottom of the NBA, they must prove they are at least clawing out of that cellar rather than sinking further into it.

“Honestly, I’m not really paying too much attention [to pundits],” guard Jeremy Lin said. “But my evaluation was always we’re pretty good. I’ve never thought anything otherwise, and I’ve never let anybody’s opinion tell me otherwise. At the end of the day it’s our job to figure things out, and prove that to everybody else.”

How Lin meshes in the backcourt with newcomer D’Angelo Russell will go a long way toward determining if they do that.

“Lump the offseason into the offseason, training camp and preseason games, as a total I’m pretty pleased with how things have gone,” coach Kenny Atkinson said. “I’m pleased with how things have gone. I’m pleased with how the new guys have integrated.”

There are plenty of new guys to integrate, with six new names on the 15-man roster and half as many new faces in the starting lineup. Russell was brought

in as the biggest piecer piece rebuild,of this at the cost of Nets all-time leading scorer Brook Lopez. He’s the closest thing Brooklyn has to a ffoundation piece, bubut the arrival of fellfellow newcomers DeMDeMarre Carroll, TimoTimofey Mozgov, Jarrett Allen and Allen Crabbe make the Nets a very different team.

It remains to be seen how much better.