2nd half rotations

The second half of the season is upon us and the Nets are 21-31 and one game out of the 8^th seed. The Nets are better than the Hornets and they should make the playoffs but the key to making it is Lionel Hollins rotations. This is something he has struggled with this season, but I’m here to fix that problem. The first thing is no more starting Jarrett Jack. The Nets have a -8.6 net rating with Jack on the floor!!! That is horrible! He shouldn’t be a starter on most teams. When Jack is on the bench the Nets have 5.6 net rating. All the numbers say the Nets are better when Jack doesn’t play; so stop starting him!!! Even though Deron Williams is having a down year the Nets have a net rating of -1.2 with him on the floor. Now that’s not good but it’s a lot better than Jarrett Jack. It’s time to start Deron and it’s not even a debate. When it comes to the 1^st wing position it’s a no brainer, Joe Johnson. The 2^nd wing is interesting Bojan Bogdanovic and Alan Anderson have basically the same net rating, Bojan is a better shooter than Anderson but Anderson is a better defender. I would go with Anderson (I can’t believe I’m writing this) because of the defense and he doesn’t hurt the spacing. Both players should certainly get a lot of minutes. It would be smart to sprinkle in another wing player like Karasev or Markel Brown. They would only play like 5 minutes, but they are needed. When it comes to power forward, Thaddeus Young needs to play a lot. He’ll be pushing 34-36 minutes a night. The Nets only backup is Cory Jefferson and he bare plays as it is. Mason Plumlee is the starting center and Lopez is off the bench when it comes to the center position.

Minute’s breakdown (warning, my math skills are 76ers bad)

PG Deron Williams (32-36 mins) Jarrett Jack (12-16 mins)

Wings Joe Johnson (34-36 mins) Alan Anderson (26-30 mins) Bojan Bogdanovic (18-22 mins) Markel Brown (5-7 mins)

Power forward Thaddeus Young (34-36 mins) Cory Jefferson (12-14 mins)

Center Mason Plumlee (28-32 mins) Brook Lopez (16-20 mins)

It’s important to note that these minutes wouldn’t allow Deron Williams and Jarrett Jack to play alongside each other, as well as Brook Lopez and Mason Plumlee. Those two combinations have not worked all year so let’s not try this in the second half. Okay?  

Nets Trade Deadline Roller Coaster

At 1pm I was sitting in my communication arts class (what does that even mean?) and I see that the Nets are on the verge of trading Brook Lopez, Kevin Garnett and Jarrett Jack. If you follow me on twitter or have read anything I have written you would know trading those guys would make me thrilled. So I was in class smiling pretending to pay attention but I was violently swiping my timeline looking for the confirmed tweet from Woj or Stein. So at around 2:30 I was working on a project with some people I looked back at my phone and I see Kevin Garnett has been traded for Thaddeus Young (good trade we’ll get into that later). I was happy with that the only thing left was Lopez and Jack. At this time I am wondering why this trade hasn’t been completed yet. So I go away from my phone I come back at 2:55ish and devastation, Reggie Jackson has been traded to the Pistons. WHY WOJ!!! Enes Kanter has been traded to the Thunder. All hope is dead.

At one point today the Nets looked like they were going to be HUGE winners. They were going to get a young point guard in Reggie Jackson but instead Sam Presti played Billy King. Brook Lopez is now in a really awkward stage, he’s playing for a team that has tried to trade him multiple times in the past month. By not trading Lopez Mason Plumlee is a trade deadline loser today. Without Lopez Plumlee would be able to play freely and not be worried about being pulled for making a mistake. But the Nets did get Thaddeus Young so let’s look at that.

Thaddeus Young was drafted by Billy King in 2007 in Philadelphia and Billy has always been a fan of Thaddeus and now he got him back. KG for Thaddeus is a good trade for Brooklyn I thought KG had no value but Flip Saunders really wanted him back and offered the Nets a good player but he’s having a down year he’s averaging 14 points on 13 shots! And shooting 29% from three but he’s Thaddeus isn’t having a bad year due to a decrease in talent or athleticism it’s because he’s being asked to do too much. Ricky Rubio, Kevin Martin and Nikola Pekovic have been hurt a majority of the year making Young the 1^st or 2^nd option. Young isn’t good enough to be the 1^st or 2^nd option on Brooklyn he will be the 3^rd or 4^th option which is a much better fit. In Brooklyn he will play off the ball more and he will be able to slash a lot more which is strength in his game. He also fits nicely in Brooklyn having him on the floor with Plumlee will allow the Nets to operate at a much faster pace. Young had good on/off #s in Minnesota their offensive rating was +2 with him on the floor. Young brings the Nets youth and athleticism which is something they needed, Young has a player option for next season, and The Nets need Young to opt-in because they have no cap room so they won’t be able to sign a power forward. Young should play a lot for Brooklyn since the Nets don’t have a backup power forward, they have Cory Jefferson but Hollins has been hesitant to use him. If Young can play good defense and help offensively he can boost the Nets to the eight seed. (GO CRAZY) It’s hard to predict future success, especially in this case with Young but I think he’ll be a good fit on this team is it enough to make them a playoff team? We will find out.

For everything Nets and NBA follow @threwthenet on twitter

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

For Everything NBA and Brooklyn Nets follow @Threwthenet on Twitter

TRADES!!!

                We are about one month away from the trade deadline and it’s time for the Billy King to pick up his phone and start making deals (Oh man that’s a scary thought). But the Nets are screwed for this season and until 2019. 2019 is the next time the Nets have their own first round pick!!!2019!!! That is crazy! How is this real?!?! The Nets can’t hit the restart button because they don’t have their own pick! So what can the Nets do? We’ll take a look at the plan for the rest of this season. The Nets current plan is to shed salary but contend. The Nets don’t want to add salary beyond next year because they want an empty cap for the free agency of 2016. The Nets should currently look to shed salary and contend because what else do they have going for them? But the problem I have with that plan is the empty cap for 2016. Look, the Nets are screwed so why would a big free agent want to come to Brooklyn? There’s no reason. Also the Nets shouldn’t even sign one because if they sign a big free agent they won’t win anything! The way you become a championship contender is by drafting 2 or 3 good to great players and then signing players. What the Nets should be doing this season is looking to trade everyone but Mason Plumlee for draft picks, young players and other teams’ horrible contracts. The only way the Nets can build towards the future is by taking horrible contracts and getting picks/assets in return. The Nets shouldn’t be looking to contend for the next 1-3 years; just add bad contracts endure the horrible seasons but get picks and assists with those horrible contracts. The Nets also have a couple of role players that they might be able to deal for a second round pick. TRADE MACHINE TIME!

           This is a trade that saves the Nets some money and it works for the Clippers; they NEED bench depth and Anderson provides it. Anderson is shooting 34% from three and is a good defender, and Anderson is cheap for the Clippers. The Nets could ask for a second round pick in return but I doubt they get a pick in return. Trading Anderson could open up a rotation spot for Markel Brown. The Nets need a young wing player to emerge and Karasev isn’t the answer (I still have hope for Bojan). By trading Anderson, Brown gets playing time. If the Nets get Chris Douglas Roberts they should waive him and sign a D-league guy and see what the D-Leaguer has.

               

         Okay I know Ray Felton isn’t someone you want and I don’t want Felton, but Mirza is probably gone after this season and the Nets should let him walk. He’s a fun player to watch, but he isn’t that good. The Mavs need another big right now. Charlie Villanueve is their back up four. They need to upgrade that position and Mirza is a good player for that role. Felton adds salary to Brooklyn and has a player option for next season (he’ll opt in for next year) but this is an example of adding salary but taking a pick back. The only way the Nets do this trade is if the Mavs send a pick the Nets way. I don’t even care if it’s a second round pick just get me some picks!

                I’ve been spending too much time on trade machine during my winter break. But the Clippers bench is bad and adding KG and Alan Anderson to it helps. KG and Doc have their relationship which is why it could happen. Spencer Hawes hasn’t been good this year and Doc Rivers isn’t a fan of him which means he might do something stupid. Hawes has 3 years left but in this deal the Nets add C.J. Wilcox, a young player under control for a while and should ask for a pick of any type; first or second Doc Rivers throws picks around almost worse than Billy King. The rest of the players in this trade are just old vets that take up roster spots. The Nets could waive some and add a D-leaguer or two.

 

                This is a trade I’m not a fan of because of Lance Stephenson, but the Nets need to do something. The Hornets might do it because Michael Jordan isn’t good at his job and the team really wants to make the playoffs; Joe Johnson would get this team in the playoffs. But the Nets get Williams and Henderson who are just taking up roster space. The Nets could take a chance on Lance because of the talent and hope they can figure his head out. The Nets could get a pick in this deal as well.

                This trade saves the Nets cash and that’s about it. The three players in the trade don’t help you win but you only do this trade if you receive a first round pick. The Pelicans need to get Anthony Davis in the playoffs and by adding Joe Johnson it might make the Pelicans the 8^th seed out west.

 

                Chris Mannnix suggested the Celtics take a shot on Brook Lopez which is why I made this deal. I highly doubt this trades happens, but hey why not! The Nets add salary  but they add salary with the Celtics who have so many draft picks and young assets that maybe the Nets can steal a few away in a deal like this. If the Nets did this they could trade Bass for a second round pick; he does have value. I doubt the Celtics do this because they’re in rebuilding mode and Zeller and Oylnk have been playing great of late.

           

 

                I wouldn’t rule out the Lakers pulling this trade off. They love big names and these are big names (kinda). The Nets get a good player in Lin and can buyout Steve Nash. Also, throw in a draft pick and it’s a win for the Nets!

                Those are all the trades for now there will be more in the coming weeks. Make sure to follow @threwthenet on Twitter for everything NBA and Brooklyn Nets. 

Nets Final play

It’s a new year but this new team isn’t going to change. This team is around 500 and will most likely be that way for the rest of the season; the team is stuck here and the Nets should make trades. The Nets have been talking to the Kings about Deron Williams and they talked to the Thunder about Brook Lopez. Every player outside of Mason Plumlee should be on the market. Plumlee has the potential to be a Tyson Chandler like player and he should be a building block player. As for everyone else, let them go!

Who should be starting?

            Deron Williams and Brook Lopez are now bench players for the Nets. Both have been playing better of late but only one should be back in the starting lineup. Deron Williams should be back in the starting lineup, he’s better than Jack and the only way to boost his trade value is by playing him more. He has been playing better since he has returned from injury, but he’s hurt again. DERON WILLIAMS!!! Not to mention when Jarrett Jack is on the floor the Nets are a -8.6, and when he’s off the floor the Nets are 5.8. Brook Lopez should remain on the bench and play about 20 minutes a game. Now last night vs the Mavs he scored 18 points in the first quarter, but a majority of those points were scored from 15-18 feet away from the basket and those are not reliable shots. Hollins should also not play Plumlee and Lopez together; they have played 88 minutes together this year and are a -12.5. They simply can’t play together, Lopez should be playing with Mirza Teletovic; they have played 296 minutes this year and are a +3. Mirza opens the floor for Brook and it’s just a better fit. (Stats are from basketball reference)

Lionel Hollins

            Its 34 games into the season and Lionel Hollins has been disappointing. He uses the wrong lineups and his final play of regulation vs the Mavericks was mind boggling.

The play is a simple ISO for Joe Johnson which is a good play in this situation, anytime you have Joe going one on one with someone I like my chances but there is one huge mistake with the play; Hollins drew up in the timeout. Look where Brook Lopez is standing. He’s in the strong side corner and Tyson Chandler is paying no attention to him and because of this Joe has no chance of attacking the rim. How can you have a 7 foot center with no three point shot standing where he’s standing??  Lopez should have been on the bench here and Karasev should be in his spot. If Karasev is there it forces Chandler away from the lane.

The Nets play the Celtics and 76ers this week at home. They must win both of those games. They will be without Deron Williams for the Celtics. Brandon Davies was also released today, it gives the Nets one free roster start.

For everything NBA and Brooklyn Nets follow @threwthenet on twitter.

Deron Williams and Brook Lopez

                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)

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 1^st 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 

For everything NBA and Brooklyn Nets follow @threwthenet on twitter

Angry Joe

The Nets season has started and it’s been a decent start; they’re 4-2. They should be 5-1; that loss against Minnesota was unacceptable. But let’s recap the first two weeks of the Nets season.

Deron Williams

Last year I revoked the nickname D-will from Deron because he didn’t deserve a hyphen, but now he has earned it back. He had ankle surgery and he looks five years younger. He was been fantastic so far this year. His numbers are good, nothing special, but he is just passing the eye test and looks better. The Nets offensive rating with D-will is 112.6, which is an outstanding number. That number will come down but only because it will be impossible to maintain. The Nets defensive rating with D-will on the floor is 104.8 which isn’t good but his defense has looked better and is guard other point guards very well. Something I have noticed is that Deron is doing a great job of getting “skinny” and going over screens. It’s also very good that Deron has good ankles because his usage rate is 23% among the highest in the league. Deron won player of the week this week, but who cares? If he can keep up this stretch Deron will find himself in the all-star conversation and the Nets will be in the playoffs.

Brook Lopez

Brook Lopez is the Nets most curious player. He’s one of their star players and is part of the core that should lead the Nets to playoffs, but there’s a big problem with everything I said. Brook Lopez might make the Nets worse. It’s crazy to say that but their Net rating is -2.8 when he’s on the floor and he hurts the offense. Also when Lopez gets the ball in the post he’s going to shoot it. He has one assist this year and no hockey assist. Brook Lopez is basically a black hole on offense. His defense also hasn’t been good which led to him being benched in the fourth quarter vs Orlando on Sunday. Lopez’s back up, Mason Plumlee, has been playing exceptional, his net rating is 16.5! Plumlee doesn’t do much with the ball in his hand but he sets good screens, runs the floor nicely and is a better rebounder than Brook Lopez. Plumlee has been out playing Lopez but he shouldn’t start over Lopez. But Lionel Hollins should be increasing Plumlee’s minutes and decreasing Lopez’s minutes.

Why is Joe Johnson so mad?

            Joe Johnson was back at it with the media today. On Sunday Johnson was upset that the Nets squeaked past the Magic and following practice on Tuesday he called out his team for being selfish and not moving the ball. Now this is curious because Joe has taken the most shots on the Nets this year but the Nets are second to last in assist ratio. Which does indicate that the ball is not moving for the Nets. This could be a shot at Lopez who we know doesn't pass, but it’s odd that he’s calling out his team considering they have the second highest offensive rating in the league. Now this could just be Joe just trying to keep his team focused and motivating them; he has said he needs to be more of a leader with Pierce gone. Either way this will be something to watch for the next coming weeks.

Lineups

            The Nets starting lineup has played 4 games so far this year and have a net rating of -5. Now if you replace Lopez with Plumlee that lineup has a net rating of two which isn’t great but it shows that Lopez has to change his game a little bit if the Nets are going to succeed. An interesting lineup for the Nets is playing Mirza at the four over KG. That lineup has a net rating of 22, now that is very good. And that lineup should get more burn.

The Four

            Is the right guy starting at power forward for the Nets? Mirza Teletovic, by the numbers has out played Kevin Garnett by a lot and it isn’t even close. Mirza has a net rating of 18.0 while KG has a 4.5 rating. Also the Nets are much better defensively with Mirza on the court. Starting Mirza would also help Brook Lopez a lot. It would give him more room to operate in the post, and we already discussed that lineups success. Starting Mirza would be very beneficial for Brooklyn.

            The Nets are 4-2, they should be 5-1. They started off playing teams that aren’t very good and now their schedule gets tough. They go out west this week and play the Suns, Warriors and Trailblazers. If Brooklyn comes out of this three game span with a 1-2 record it would be a good road trip anything more than that would be great. Also I think the Warriors are the best team in the NBA right now.

            For everything NBA and the Nets follow @threwthenet on twitter.