Graham cracking into Nets’ plans as afterthought
Treveon Graham, waived by the Hornets and cast out into the NBA scrap heap, didn’t have any expectations when he signed with the Nets. It was a lifeline and he was glad to take it.
Graham was going to seize any minutes he got during the preseason and cash in on any opportunity to impress the bosses. Mission accomplished.
The gritty young wing was a plus-8 in 107 minutes on the floor this preseason, just one off the team lead, and has made the Nets better with his physical defense.
“Treveon’s been a big surprise. He’s another guy you can trust, trust on the defensive side of the floor,” coach can Kenny ing make to Atkinson push some for 3s, said. a he’s “If good go- he amount of playing time.”
Could Graham go from afterthought to part of the Nets’ rotation? It would be an impressive jump after he had been caught in a numbers game in Charlotte.
The Hornets are paying wings Nicolas Batum, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Jeremy Lamb a combined $44.5 million this season. The emergence of Dwayne Bacon last year and the drafting of Miles Bridges squeezed Graham onto the street, from where the Nets scooped him up on a two-year minimum deal.
“I didn’t have too many expectations prior,” admitted Graham, 24. “Whenever I did get in the game, I wanted to come out show what I can do and contribute to the team however I could.
“My ambition, whenever I do get those opportunity — we have a lot of guys out right now, so things may change — when they do come back, whenever I get on the court that’s my time to show what I can do and help my team win.”
Graham has proven more of a help than the Nets had any right to expect. He aver- aged 6.8 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 26.7 minutes during the preseason, and played outstanding defense. “He can help us,” D’Angelo Russell said. “He’s a tough guy, rebounds, can guard multiple positions and he knocks down shots. He’s a shotmaker, so he can help Graham hasn’t made those shots so far in preseason, going just 2-for-12 from 3-point range. But considering he showed range in training camp and his career 43.8 percent from 3-point range would top all active players if he had enough attempts to qualify, the Nets are confident those shots will fall. Until then, he’ll keep doing all the little things. “It seems like we play well when he’s in there. He’s efficient on offense and he defends the basketball and he’s tough as nails. That’s a nice combination,” Atkinson said of Graham, who took advantage of injuries to forwards Allen Crabbe, DeMarre Car- roll and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson this preseason.
“Guys were out and I don’t think he would’ve been getting the minutes that he’s gotten,” Atkinson added. “But the good thing about him, we can plug him into different spots. He can play the 2, 3 and 4 without a problem, so he’s going to be a versatile guy off the bench for us.”
Graham was a plus-10 or better in every preseason game except against the Raptors. At 6-foot-5, 225 pounds with a 6-11 wingspan, he arguably was the Nets’ best defender and certainly their most versatile.
“That’s what I do well,” Graham said. “I play pretty good defense. And physicality, that’s kind of my thing. So if my shot isn’t falling, there’s always different things you can do to help a team win other than scoring.
“I feel like I’m versatile enough to play those things and can play off of other players on the team. D’Angelo, Spencer [Dinwiddie], Caris [LeVert], whoever is on the court I feel like I can play off of them and find my spot on the court.”
The Nets requested waivers on forward Drew Gordon and guards Tahjere McCall and Shannon Scott.