2015-16 NBA Season Preview: Brooklyn Nets
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Brooklyn Nets
2014-15
| Record | Atlantic | East | Playoffs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 38-44 | 3rd | 8th | Round 1 loss to ATL (4-2) |
Offseason Roundup
| Additions | Departures |
|---|---|
| Andrea Bargnani (2/$3M) | Deron Williams (waived) |
| Thomas Robinson (2/$2M) | Mason Plumlee (traded to POR) |
| Wayne Ellington (2/$3M) | Mirza Teletovic (signed with PHX) |
| Shane Larkin (2/$3M) | Alan Anderson (signed with WAS) |
| Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (No. 23 pick) | |
| Chris McCullough (No. 29 pick) |
- Re-signed Brook Lopez (3/$64)
- Re-signed Thaddeus Young (4/$50)
Projected Starting 5
- PG Jarrett Jack
- SG Joe Johnson
- SF Bojan Bogdanovic
- PF Thaddeus Young
- C Brook Lopez
MVP: Brook Lopez
Thanks to his nagging injuries and the Nets' nagging mediocrity, it became difficult, at a certain point, to remember Lopez as anything other than a fragile underachiever.
But a scintillating finish to last season - in which he averaged 19.7 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 1.8 blocks after the All-Star break, won consecutive Player of the Week awards, and helped propel the Nets to an improbable playoff berth - reminded the basketball world of his deep well of talent.
With his size, footwork, and feathery touch, Lopez is deadly when he catches the ball near the hoop, and though he mostly plays below the rim, he's one of the most consistently effective pick-and-roll bigs in the league. The Nets used him as a roll man 263 times last season, third-most in the NBA. Among players who registered at least 150 such plays, he ranked fourth in points per possession (1.08). He can make switching and playing small-ball dangerous propositions for a defense, and, with range extending solidly out to 18 feet, also pose problems for traditional centers in space.
Lopez is the Nets' best player, and it isn't close. If they're to once again sniff the playoffs, or even respectability, he'll be the reason.
Breakout Player: Bojan Bogdanovic
After being drafted with the first pick of the second round in 2011, then playing three years in Turkey, Bogdanovic finally arrived stateside last season and made a strong first impression with the Nets.
He averaged just nine points and 2.7 rebounds, but finished third on the team with a 56.2 true shooting percentage and hit an impressive 35.5 percent from beyond the arc, on 3.3 attempts per game. Most encouragingly, he improved dramatically as the season wore on, and proved an adept scorer down the stretch.
Bogdanovic was blazing hot after the All-Star break, shooting 51.3 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from deep (those percentages in the month of April: 52.6 and 48.8), suggesting he'd grown more comfortable with the NBA ball and 3-point line, both of which are different than those in Europe.
With the declining Joe Johnson entering his age-35 season, expect Bogdanovic to assume a larger role on the wing.
Season Expectations
With their first-round draft picks either owed elsewhere or subject to swap until 2019, the Nets don't have much means of improving their station through tanking.
As such, they've assembled a team with a relatively low floor, namely by re-signing Lopez and Thaddeus Young to long-term deals in the offseason. Regrettably, after a summer primarily geared towards getting lean - waiving Deron Williams using the stretch provision, and filling in the margins with bargain-bin, minimum-contract guys - they have a comparably low ceiling, and will likely find themselves right back in the muddled middle.
A good run of health, another strong season from Lopez, and contributions from unexpected places - which seems bound to happen given just how many prove-it-or-lose-it players they've added - should see the Nets hover somewhere around .500 and challenge for a low playoff seed.
All told, the highest drama figures to come from owner Mikhail Prokhorov's continued attempts to sell - and deny that he's trying to sell - the franchise.