Brooklyn Nets

Three questions the Nets face heading into training camp

Published Sep. 28, 2015 4:00 p.m. ET

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With training camp about to tip off, here’s what to watch for as your favorite team prepares for the 2015-16 season. Some of these questions will be answered quickly; others could linger into the regular season. Either way, here are three things that will define the first month of this new season:

Is an identity change actually in store?

It's not that the Nets were slow last year. It's that they legitimately may have been the most boring team in the NBA to watch. They weren't the worst one, just the most tedious. You weren't going to see any above-the-rim play or quick transition movement or crazy alley oops. But Brooklyn spent the offseason bringing in young athletes on the cheap. The starting lineup has similar vibes to last year's, but this looks like a bench unit that might be able to run.

Could letting go of Deron Williams be addition by subtraction?

How important locker room dynamic is will be an ever-debated basketball—nay, sports— argument. Is a team better off with a little more talent and a little more frigidness? Or is it better off being loose and comfortable with that added talent no longer present. No one thought Williams was worth the money the Nets were giving him, but he was this team's best point guard. Still, could the Nets be better off without him?

Can Jarrett Jack hold onto the starting point guard role?

One problem with the Nets buying out Deron Williams, a move made with financial motivations above all, is that Brooklyn may sport the worst point-guard roster in the NBA. Jack slides into the starting role with some combination of Shane Larkin, Donald Sloan and Ryan Boatright behind him. (Boatright and Sloan are on partially guaranteed contracts.) Still, Jack hasn't run his own team in years, and on a team whose offensive identity is its big men, will Jack be able to get them the ball consistently?

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