Friday, August 26, 2016

NBA season preview: Brooklyn Nets

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 22: Brook Lopez #11 of the Brooklyn Nets reacts after shooting an airball in the final seconds against a 105-100 loss to the Charlotte Hornets during their game at the Barclays Center on March 22, 2016 in New York City. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images)

STAYING: Bojan Bogdanovic, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Sean Kilpatrick, Brook Lopez and Chris McCullough.

ADDED: Beau Beech (North Florida), Anthony Bennett, Trevor Booker (Utah), Yogi Ferrell (Indiana University), Randy Foye (Oklahoma City), Justin Hamilton (Valencia Basket), Joe Harris, Caris LeVert (Michigan), Jeremy Lin (Charlotte), Egidijus Mockevicius (Akademija Vilnius), Luis Scola (Toronto), Greivis Vasquez (Milwaukee) and Isaiah Whitehead (Seton Hall).

GONE: Markel Brown, Wayne Ellington (Miami), Jarrett Jack (Atlanta), Sergey Karasev (Zenit St. Petersburg), Shane Larkin (Baskonia), Willie Reed (Miami), Thomas Robinson, Henry Sims, Donald Sloan (Guangdong Southern Tigers) and Thaddeus Young (Indiana).

STRENGTHS: Brook Lopez remains one of the top offensive centers in the game … Hard to stop him with that size and sweet touch around the rim … A workhorse like Trevor Booker is a sensible addition next to him … He can make up some for Lopez’s well-known shortcomings … Jeremy Lin is an underrated and dynamic player at the point guard position … Bojan Bogdanovic‘s outside shooting will be one the team’s biggest assets on the offensive end … He just led the Olympic Games in scoring for Croatia and should be more confident in his game than ever before … Kenny Atkinson has a reputation for developing yount talent.

WEAKNESSES: Where to start? … In terms of overall talent, they might be the worst team in the league … No stars and no depth … Also hard to get super excited about the club’s young players … Just too many fringe NBA guys … You have to wonder how many will be in the league in 2-3 years … There’s an inordinate amount of shooting guards on the roster … So many new faces … So many players looking to establish themselves in the NBA … It will be hard for a rookie head coach to make them play as a cohesive unit … They were the worst club in the league in opponents’ field goald shooting percentage … How much can they improve defensively? … Any home-court advantage for them? … You know the Barclays Center will not be rocking with this team.

PREDICTION: 5th in the Atlantic Division, 15th in the Eastern Conference.

SALARIES:

nets_salaries



from HoopsHype http://ift.tt/2bTrinl
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