It’s
almost Christmas which means about one third of the NBA season has happened and
for the Nets two things have become clear; It’s time to part away with two of
their “star” players. Those two players are Deron Williams and Brook Lopez.
Brook Lopez
Lopez has been a mess this year for Brooklyn. Not only is
his play bad, but he makes the Nets unwatchable. Lopez has turned into a black
hole on offense. He holds the ball for long amounts of time, he kills the ball
movement, and he isn’t very good on the pick and roll; which in the current NBA
you need a big man who can set picks and drive to the rim and score. Lopez does
not do that well. When Lopez gets the ball in the post forget about him passing
it. He has 12 assists on the year while taking 250 shots. He is also shooting
37.5% between 5-9 feet. As a center whose only assist is scoring he needs to be
a lot better than that. Why is this such
a problem? Because the NBA is changing. You can’t win with a big man being your
leading scorer when that big man gets the majority of his points while posting
up. The way to succeed is by having a big man who can run the floor (not Lopez),
who can run the pick and roll efficiently (not Lopez), who plays good defense
and is a rim protector (not Lopez). Opponents are shooting 60% on Lopez within
6 feet of the basket. So what does Brook Lopez do for this team? Bring them
down. Lopez has a net rating of -3.3. Mason Plumlee the backup center has a net
rating of-0.2 (basically even). Plumlee is the main reason why the Nets should
trade Lopez, Plumlee had a great rookie season and has put up good numbers
since Lopez suffered his back injury. In his last six games Plumlee is
averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks while shooting 68%!!! Plumlee
is the type of center you want in the current day NBA; he does everything that
Lopez can’t do.
Here’s
a stat that shows Lopez is worst for the Nets look at PTS column which is +/-
(via Basketball reference).png)
So what is the solution? There’s only two ways to fix the problem. Option one is to make Brook Lopez a bench player and have him play 20mins a game as a backup center, and in those 20 minutes play the slow pace and use Brook to the best of his ability. The second option is to trade him. Lopez is making nearly 16 million this year and has a player option in which all likely hood he’ll pick up which is worth nearly 17 million. No matter what though when Lopez returns from injury, Mason Plumlee must be the starter!
Deron Williams
Over the weekend there was a Wojbomb. Yahoos Adrian
Wojnajowski reported the Nets and Kings have been discussing a deal that would
send Deron to the Kings and the Nets would receive Derrick Williams (THE NEW
D-WILL!!), Jason Thompson, and Darren Collison. Now that trade wouldn’t be good
for either side but there is a way for that trade to become a good one for
Brooklyn. Its simple, keep the same players but add one of Ben McLemore, Nik
Stauskas, or a 1st round draft pick. If the Nets can trade Deron get
an expiring (new D-will) and a young assist it would be a good trade. No matter
what happens it’s a bad trade for the Kings but SHHHHH! Their new owner is
crazy; let him keep going. The Nets don’t have to trade Deron but its better if
they do. If the Nets keep Deron they’ll make the playoffs and will be bounced
in the first round. If they trade him it’s the same result but, maybe you get
lucky with the young assist you receive in the deal. Deron shooting has been
bad this year but besides that he’s basically been the same player for the last
three years, and for the last three years he’s been a good player but the fans
are hard on him because he was a symbol of hope and he never lived up to the
hyped he was never great but he was good. I mean there were missing person
poster outside Barclays last year during the playoffs with his face on it! A
trade would be good for the Nets and Deron, but bad for the Kings.
I would be surprised if Deron or Brook aren’t traded this
year all reports seem like its going to happen, and it should happen.
All stats are from NBA.com
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