National Basketball Association

Brooklyn Nets 2016-17 Season Outlook: The Start Of A Rebuild

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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With a new front office and head coach, the Brooklyn Nets will begin their new regime – and rebuild – during the 2016-17 season

Last season, the Brooklyn Nets were horrible (to put it nicely). The team didn’t have any success because of the lack of talent on the roster. Besides Brook Lopez and Bojan Bogdanovic, the Brooklyn Nets had the make up of a D-League team.

That much was well evident when their two starting point guards last year, aren’t even in the NBA anymore (Shane Larkin Europe, Donald Sloan China).

With that said, the team had trouble being competitive because of it. Their record of 21-61 was terrible, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. The reason Brooklyn has continued to struggle is because of their lack of a culture.

There was no continuity or togetherness with the team. Guys weren’t interested in winning games, instead, they were concerned with chase their own numbers.

Joe Johnson talked about that after his departure from the team.

[via NBA.com]

“Honestly, this season in Brooklyn I was in a tough situation, playing with a lot of young guys, stat chasing guys that didn’t really want to win.”

That speaks volume, especially when considering the type of person and teammate Joe Johnson is. He isn’t one to throw his teammates under the bus, so that should say something about last seasons roster.

The Brooklyn Nets added Jeremy Lin, Trevor Booker, Justin Hamilton, Greivis Vasquez, Randy Foye, Anthony Bennett and Joe Harris by way of free-agency to help in that aspect. They also added Caris LeVert (traded Thaddeus Young for him) and Isaiah Whitehead through the draft.

Oct 19, 2015; Boston, MA, USA; Brooklyn Nets forward Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (24) dribbles the ball as Boston Celtics guard Marcus Smart (R) falls during the first half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Mark L. Baer-USA TODAY Sports

Guaranteed Deals:

Brook Lopez, Jeremy Lin, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Bojan Bogdanovic, Trevor Booker, Luis Scola, Isaiah Whitehead, Caris LeVert, Sean Kilpatrick, Chris McCullough, Randy Foye, Greivis Vasquez, Justin Hamilton, Joe Harris, Anthony Bennett.

Partially Guaranteed Deals:

Yogi Ferrell, Beau Beech, Egidijus Mockevicius

Training Camp Deals:

Chase Budinger, Jorge Gutierrez

Depth Chart

Next: Strengths And Weaknesses

Mar 19, 2016; Auburn Hills, MI, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Bojan Bogdanovic (44) during the fourth quarter against the Detroit Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. Mandatory Credit: Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

Strength: Starting Unit

The projected starting five of Brook Lopez, Jeremy Lin, Trevor Booker, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Bojan Bogdanovic looks like a strength for the team. In Hollis-Jefferson and Booker, the Nets have their defensive aces.

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Expect Lin, Bogdanovic and Lopez take over the scoring duties. Their starting five is going to keep them in a lot of games next season, which leads us to their weakness.

Weaknesses: Depth/Bench

The bench unit looks like it’s going to be Randy Foye as the 1, Sean Kilpatrick at the 2, Joe Harris 3, Luis Scola 4, and Justin Hamilton at the 5. That’s not that bad of a bench (there are worse in the league) yet, it’s far from the best.

Hamilton is a question mark at centre, while Foye at back-up point guard isn’t the most ideal situation.

With Greivis Vasquez rehabbing his ankle injury, he’s going to be out for the first couple of weeks, leaving Foye and Isaiah Whitehead as the only two back-up point guards on the roster.

Foye is a capable point guard, but the two is his strongest position, while Whitehead is only going into his first year, making it a little risky for Kenny Atkinson to put him in early.

So unless Jeremy Lin is going to play 40 minutes a game, the back-up point guard position is going to be a weakness for the team.

Sep 26, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Jeremy Lin (7) during media day at HSS Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports

Most Important player: Jeremy Lin

Although Brook Lopez is easily the Brooklyn Nets’ best player, Jeremy Lin is going to be their most important. We all saw what happened last season when Shane Larkin and Donald Sloan ran the point, it was disastrous.

That’s why Lin is going to need to be a key contributor to the Nets. If he can play well, Brooklyn will have a successful upcoming season, because he’s the one that’s going to be running the sets, and getting players in a position to succeed.

The Nets need Lin to be a leader to help get this ship headed in the right direction.

In order to be a successful season…

In order to have any success in the upcoming season, the Brooklyn Nets must learn to play together. Kenny Atkinson and Sean Marks are going to look for ball movement and team play.

They were brought in to bring that San Antonio Spurs style of play, which is passing up a good shot for a great shot.

So that’s going to be key. But the most important thing is going to be growing individually and as a team. Players like Trevor Booker and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson are going to need to show improvements, because they’re going to get expanded roles this year.

Bojan Bogdanovic is also someone the team is going to really need. During the Olympics, Bogdanovic’s play was Kobe-esque, as he led all nations in scoring, averaging 25.3 points a night; shooting 50.6 percent from the field, and 45 percent from behind the arc.

The Brooklyn Nets are going to need that type of consistency from him. If he can average around 16-18 points per game, it’ll help ease some of the scoring burden off of Brook Lopez and Jeremy Lin.

Sep 26, 2016; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Brooklyn Nets guard Isaiah Whitehead (15) poses for a portrait during media day at HSS Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Nicole Sweet-USA TODAY Sports

The Prediction

The Brooklyn Nets made some nice additions this offseason despite not landing any big name free agents. But that wasn’t the plan, as Sean Marks is looking for a “diamond in the rough”. Whether we’re talking about the Trevor Booker signing or bringing Sean Kilpatrick in on a 10-day contract, the team is looking to find players that they can develop.

It’s that San Antonio Spurs style of management they brought in. As the Spurs have continued to show, it doesn’t matter were you pick (Tony Parker 28th pick, Kawhi Leonard 15th pick, Manu Ginobili 57th pick), developing talent is key. Sean Marks is already looking to find his own star as he traded away Thad Young for Caris LeVert.

Moves like that are why the upcoming season isn’t going to be defined by wins and losses; instead, it’s going to be about seeing individual growth from the players and the team as a whole. In the Nets preseason press conference Sean Marks was asked about the teams record in the upcoming season.

[via Nets Daily]

“The season won’t be measured entirely by wins and losses. It’ll be measured by the progress that’s made throughout the season and the buy-in from our players. Our goals aren’t necessarily six months down the road goals. It’s this next block of five games and asking did we improve from the last block of five games.”

If the Brooklyn Nets can get everyone to buy in to what Kenny Atkinson and Sean Marks are preaching, the season will already be a success. But unfortunately most fans wont see that, as wins and losses will ultimately define their season. So with that, they will have some success and be a competitive roster, making a record of 36-46 the likely outcome.

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