2012-2013 preview: Brooklyn Nets

Eastern Conference #4: Brooklyn Nets (52-30)

Point Guard: Deron Williams, CJ Watson, Tyshawn Taylor.
Shooting Guard: Joe Johnson, MarShon Brooks, Keith Bogans.
Small Forward: Gerald Wallace, Josh Childress, Jerry Stackhouse.
Power Forward: Kris Humphries, Reggie Evans.
Center: Brook Lopez, Andray Blatche.

          Move over New York! There's a new #1 team in... New York. At least that's what it looks like so far. We've yet to see how these guys work together on the court, but it sure looks promising! Give Mikhail Prokhorov credit for whipping a crummy team into what looks like a top four playoff seed in only two seasons (three counting the upcoming season). I'm excited to see this team in action, but also apprehensive about how they'll work together. The talent level is undeniable, as you can obviously see. They're got two great scoring guards in Williams and Johnson, and a former All-Star in Wallace. They have Kris Humphries, who had a big breakout last season and finished fifth in rebounding last season averaging 11 a game and was also a decent scorer. They also have Lopez, who's an All-Star waiting to happen. Since it's hard to really pinpoint a clear main star here, lets just work through the lineup and figure it out!

          First we have Deron Williams, one of the top point guards in the league. He's debatable for top 5, but with so much talent at PG it's really hard to tell who's better than who. Personally, I think he's only behind Paul and Rondo and in a close race with Westbrook for third. Of course, this is excluding Rose since he's injured. Normally Rose would be third. Anyway, I think Williams will be a lot better playing with quality scorers and big men. Last season he averaged 21 points and 8.7 assists while shooting 41% FG and 34% 3FG. This was the first season he'd averaged less than nine assists since his rookie season, but he also shot more last season than he ever had during his career. I see Williams' assists numbers jumping back to double digits with a healthy Lopez and Joe Johnson playing with him all season. His scoring numbers will likely dip back under 20+, but that's ok since Johnson and Lopez will make up for it. Ideally, Deron's numbers would revert back to, or close to, his best season with Utah where he scored 15-18 points and averaged 11-13 assists. With him likely being the #3 scoring option on his team, those are pretty great numbers. He'll likely play 35-40 minutes a game, and those 10 or so remaining minutes will be snapped up by 9.7 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 4.1 assists with 37% FG and 39% 3FG in 23.7 minutes playing as Rose's backup for Chicago last season. he will mostly be a nonfactor since Williams often plays nearly 40 minutes a game, but he seems like a good pick up for the Nets.
          Next, we have Joe Johnson at SG. Everyone knows about Josh Smith being an athletic freak and dominating for the Hawks, but Johnson was their top scorer and go-to guy when they needed a bucket. He was also their clutch scorer and hit numerous game winners for the Hawks over the past couple seasons. He'll bring that confidence to the Nets, which is something he can provide more than anyone else on this team. His percentages are better than Williams' and he can hit threes in crunch time if needed, much like the other superstars like Durant, Anthony, Kobe, or even, yes, Lebron James. He's often an overlooked guy despite making the All-Star team six consecutive years and running (that's every season since he joined Atlanta). He averaged 18.8 points, 3.7 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 45% FG and 39% 3FG in 35.5 minutes. His scoring dipped a bit form the 21-25 PPG he'd seen for several years, but that's only because he got fewer shots than he had any of those seasons. His averages are steady and he's on the cusp of being a 40% 3FG guy, which is something that should always be respected. Especially in a guy who can score in all kinds of ways like Johnson. He'll bring a lot to this team and is the reason I'm pushing this Nets team into the top four this season. Without him this team would still be good, but not a team that would get anywhere in the playoffs. Johnson will be backed up by MarShon Brooks, a promising player who averaged 12.6 points, 3.6 rebounds, and 2.3 assists his rookie season last year in 29.4 minutes. He won't see nearly that many minutes now that Johnson has joined the team, but he's a promising player who could be a spark plug off the bench and bring the second unite some scoring if they really needed it.

Josh "My hair is freaking awesome" Childress

          Then we have Gerald Wallace at Small Forward. The former All-Star was traded to New Jersey from the Blazers last season for the pick that ended up being Damian Lillard (yay!). He was an All-Star in the 2009-10 season, averaging 18.2 points and 10.1 rebounds while shooting 48% FG and 37% 3FG in 41 minutes a game. After being traded to Portland, his production diminished to averaging 13.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 47% FG and 26% 3FG for Portland in the 2011-12 season while battling Nicolas Batum for minutes. He stats didn't really get any better for the 16 games he played with the Nets last season, but I think he'll be a great complimentary guy to the All-Stars around him. He won't be a main scoring option, and other than Humphries he may be the last scorer in the starting lineup. I don't see him averaging more than 15 PPG, or that many rebounds either with Humphries and Lopez both playing big minutes. Normally it would be a disappointment to see a former All-Star see such reduced value, but it's perfectly fine when you consider the talent around him. He'll be a great physical presence and may end up playing a few PF minutes too for defensive help. The second string SF will be either Josh Childress or Jerry Stackhouse. Childress seemed a promising NBA starter, but left to play in Europe for the 2008-09 and 09-10 seasons before coming back and playing sparingly with the Suns for the last two seasons and averaged 15 minutes a game for those seasons. He doesn't seem to have improved at all and shouldn't be relied on for scoring. Stackhouse is now 37 years old, and far past his prime. He's played in a total of 37 games the past two seasons and averaged eight minutes a game. He's never been a high percentage shooter, and likely won't bring much to the table other than experience and being the old dude in the locker room who has seen everything in his career. Simply put, the Nets don't have much at SF beyond Wallace. Good thing they have talent at other positions.
          At Power Forward the Nets will start Kris Humphries, now known as the guy who was married to Kim Kardashian for a whopping 72 days. As a basketball player, he's pretty good. He averaged 13.8 points, 11 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.2 blocks, and 48% FG in 34 minutes a game. He was fourth in the NBA in rebounding average behind Howard, Love, and Bynum, and third in Offensive rebound average behind Howard and Love with 3.8 per game. That's pretty significant, means Humphries provided his team with four second chance opportunities a game. His rebounding totals were the result of the Nets struggling to find a solid Center of place of Lopez for the season, and will likely go down a bit if Lopez can come back strong and take some of those rebounds. Humphries should still be one of the East's best Power Forwards and a contender for an All-Star. He was one of eight players to average a double double last season, and one of five players to average at least 11 points and 11 rebounds along with Howard, Love, Bynum, and DeMarcus Cousins (who I'll praise when we get to the Kings' preview). While statistics alone might not make someone an All-Star, that's pretty impressive. If he ends up getting overshadowed by Lopez in the front court his averages and playing time may drop, but I doubt it. If he improved over the summer, which is likely since he's 27 years old and just hitting his prime, he should be able to hold his own with Lopez. The Nets signed former Clippers' forward Reggie Evans to back up Humphries. Evans was an enforcer, physical defender, and rebounder for the Clippers last season who actually played a big role in their postseason, averaging 8.7 rebounds during their series against Memphis and leading the team in rebounds for the postseason. He'll be a great physical backup for Humphries who can provide defense and aggressiveness.
          Finally, we come to Brook Lopez at the Center position. Lopez was out for all but the last five games of the regular season, and Nets fans hope that he will remain healthy this season as one of the focal points of this Nets offense. Lopez has always been a high scoring Center who rebounds less than many would like. In his five games last season, he averaged 19.2 points in 27 minutes and finished fourth in Points per 48 minutes behind Durant, Kobe, and Lebron despite just coming back to the game. He only averaged 3.6 rebounds, which is ridiculously low for a seven foot guy playing close to 30 MPG. He's only 24 and is entering his fifth season in the NBA. Thankfully, the injury doesn't seem to be a sign of more to come, as he played every game his first three seasons. As Lopez's scoring has increased, his rebounding has decreased. In 2009-10, he averaged 18.8 points and 8.7 rebounds. The next season, he averaged 20.4 points and 5.7 rebounds. It's hard to tell if this is a sign for what the always expect from Lopez, or if he will correct this and jump back to close to 9 rebounds a game. Hopefully he does, and the Nets won't rely on Humphries for the majority of the rebounding. Lopez will also have to learn how to play with other big scorers. He only played with Deron for 12 games in the 2010-11 season before the season ended, and now Johnson will be on the team too. The question of how these scorers will mesh together is an interesting question. Deron seems like he will be fine. He's shown he can be a pass-first guy and be among the top in assist averages in the league. Joe Johnson's played with other big scorers before (Josh Smith), so he knows how to handle it too. How Lopez will play will be interesting though, and it's something to watch this season. It will be fun to see the Nets play three guys who could all average 20+ PPG.

These new Nets seem exciting and ready to contend. It's hard to think that they were so horrible only a couple years ago. Look for this team to possibly exceed expectations this season and make it into the second round of the playoffs at least, while being a strong playoff team over the next few years, or however long the core group stays together. You won't be disappointed.