What to do without Mirza?

      Even though Mirza was having a bad season his season ending injury is a big one for the Nets. No one on this team does what Mirza can do; he’s a big that spaces the floor and can hit the three. Mirza was the only big that could work with Lopez in 389 minutes. They are a +0.4 which isn’t that good, but Lopez only has three two man combinations that result in a positive. With Mirza out who should get his minutes? The answer should be Kevin Garnett, but the Nets won’t extend his minutes. So who else is there? The answer is not Jerome Jordan; in 52 minutes with Mason Plumlee they’re a -32. This will probably be Lionel Hollins first choice and it will fail. The guy who should get Mirza’s minutes is Cory Jefferson. He was the last pick of the draft and has done okay when called upon this season. He has the potential to become a stretch four. In college he shot 34% from three, granted it was 50 shots but it’s a start. The main reason why Jefferson deserves the minutes is when he and Mason Plumlee share the floor they are a +9.9 in 84 minutes.  Another reason why Jefferson should get Mirza’s minutes is because he’s a rookie on a one year contract this is the time to see if he’s an NBA player. The Nets should also sign another young power forward in case Jefferson doesn’t work out, but they need to sign a young guy from the D-league or Xavier Thames, who the Nets drafted right before Jefferson but Thames was playing overseas and was just bought out. The Nets still hold his rights; they could assign him to the D-league or sign him to the main roster. The Nets shouldn’t look to trade for a PF (No more giving away assets) but if they decide to trade Lopez, KG, Joe Johnson or Deron Williams they should probably look to include one in a trade.

All stats are from Basketball-reference.com

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