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Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

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Rizzo
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Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by Rizzo »

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Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?
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The Brooklyn Nets took a one-year hiatus from making moves towards the playoffs. Things weren’t gelling, especially after losing ultimate glue-guy Jake Layman to a max deal offer from the Miami Heat. All the same pieces were intact from the year before besides Layman but it proved to be a bad mix without him.
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The Moves of 2021-2022
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Then Rizzo finally hit the reset button.

Good bye all-world point guard John Wall. Good bye two-way power guard Dion Waiters. See ya later all-league wing defender Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. Even super sub Delon Wright was sent packing as well. Seemingly the entire backcourt plus RHJ was now gone.

With the moves made, draft picks were seemingly the biggest acquisitions as some were down on the return the Nets brought back in the form of players. Fred VanVleet is a spark plug three-point shooter with the ability to win games on his own. Jakob Pöltl was brought in to play as a third big man behind Pascal Siakam and Myles Turner.

But the crown jewel of the franchise reset was bringing an alpha scorer in Mario Hezonja. Hezonja is a scorer first, second and third and nobody thought he was capable of doing more than that. One of his deficiencies is he can be a bit loose with his handles, that leads to multiple turnovers, but he brought more to the table than just his 22 points per game. In his time with Brooklyn, he averaged 4.4 rebounds and 5.5 assists, both career-highs.
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2022 CSL Draft
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Then the offseason came. All players that weren’t in their immediate future were renounced. All players that were free agents at the end of the season were expendable. The draft lottery creeped closer and closer and the thought of possibly moving into the top-3 hadn’t crossed the minds of the Nets’ front office. The chances were slim and they weren’t getting their hopes up.

Then...it happened! We don’t know if we were named The Hulk, Wonder Woman or Spiderman but we jumped into the top-3! With hopes of landing that #1 pick and grabbing Jayson Tatum finally filling all the minds of Brooklyn brass and fans, it didn’t last long as the gold and black Nets logo popped up immediately for the 3rd overall pick.

Draft day came and went and the Nets walked away with a whopping four players. The expectation is that two will pay immediate dividends while two will be projects to bring along slowly.

The first pick made by the Nets at #3 overall was big man DeAndre Ayton out of Arizona. A ready-made 19-year old prospect is compared to a young Andre Drummond who’s ready to rebound and defend at an elite level from Day 1. With an already crowded front line, Ayton will demand playing time from the get-go.

With the 11th overall pick, the Nets were able to find a replacement for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson in small forward Jonathan Isaac. An absolute elite perimeter defender, perhaps the best in the class, with plus rebounding and shot-blocking ability for a wing and has shown the ability to stay out of foul trouble with great consistency. With a lower scoring rate than RHJ, he should refrain from taking away shots from the top scorers on the squad.

The next two picks - Dwayne Bacon at #23 and Frank Jackson at #40 - are going to be project players that could develop into solid rotational players over time. Bacon seems to be a player that has the ability to be a strong slasher to the rack with some 3&D potential as well. For Jackson, he shows flashes of defensive ability with potential in both ball handling and passing. He’s got a long way to go to be a reliable ball handler but he’s young, has great size and can be a player that needs his entire rookie contract to reach his potentials. He’s a definite D-League candidate to get early playing time.

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Coaching Changes
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Players weren’t the only chairs that were rearranged at this party as the coaching staff saw a bit of a shakeup as well. Mike Woodson was brought in to be the head man to lead this young roster back to the playoffs. A near-.500 career record, Woodson has made eight trips to the playoffs including winning a title. He’s a strong coach across the board and should be able to squeeze all the juice out of this roster as possible.

Woodson came in and shook up the 1st seat for his assistant’s as he relieved Kelvin Sampson of his duties and allowed him to find new work elsewhere. His replacement was the recently axed Andrei Kirilenko. The Detroit Pistons cut bait with him before the end of his contract and Brooklyn was quick to scoop him up. While he’s still learning the nuances of the strategy portion of the CSL game, the X’s and O’s he’s more than ready to help. He should develop over time and eventually could be the head coach in waiting for the Nets whenever Woodson decides to hang them up or move on.
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Free Agency
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Free agency was a whole different story for this franchise. With big dreams and aspirations heading into free agency, with a boatload of cash to spend, Brooklyn was determined to land a difference maker. Their first target: Sacramento small forward Otto Porter. To slot him in next to Mario Hezonja as a 2nd scorer and ultimate defender would have been a more-than-ideal fit. A maximum offer was submitted to Porter immediately at midnight of the first day of free agency. While he considered it for quite some time, he told management that he believed the roster was too far away from being ready to contend and decided to return to Sacramento.

From there, the Nets moved on to their next defensive stopper at small forward in restricted free agent Demarre Carroll. While offering more money and the same amount of years as the Rockets, Carroll decided to sign the offer sheet from Houston. Quickly after, the Thunder matched the offer. If he were to have signed the offer sheet from the Nets, OKC may not have been able to match.

Other targets such as Toronto’s Cory Joseph were big on the radar of the Nets but knowing that the Raptors were going to match any offer he received made them reluctant to tie up their money chasing the RFA. Their focus went to another King: the injured Russell Westbrook. Armed with a 2+1 max deal, the Nets made a strong push to land the electrifying guard. Many around the league thought this would be the deal to steal him away from Sacramento but the Kings’ shrewd GM stepped up their offer and gave Westbrook what he was asking for. Again, the Kings were able to stave off an assault from the Nets.

With all of their cap space still available, the Nets moved on to signing veterans that could help this year on one-year deals. With two open roster spots, the money was going to be more than enough to intrigue the two veterans they chose to come to Brooklyn. The first signing was a familiar face in point guard Ty Lawson. In his third tour of duty with Rizzo in Brooklyn, Lawson was brought back on a 1-year, $15 million deal. When he was re-acquired in the Dion Waiters deal last year with the Timberwolves, he was relegated to the bench as the Nets wanted to see the young players get some burn. This year, with the hope of making playoffs as the main goal, Lawson should start at point guard and lead the way for the young Nets.

The next target was another former Net in small forward Bogdan Bogdanovic. To bring him off the bench would have provided the second unit with a great all-around playmaker and scoring option to help the young guns out. Offering a massive overpay of 1-year and $13+ million clearly wasn't enough as a 3+1 MLE offer - where he will make just $3m more over three seasons than he would have in one season with the Nets - from the Memphis Grizzlies won over his services. At this point, the Nets will most likely pursue another veteran for an overpay to round out the bench unit and move on with the core they have.

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2022-2023 Season Outlook
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The roster now looks like this:
PG - Ty Lawson, Fred VanVleet, Chris Tang, Frank Jackson
SG - Malachi Richardson, Dwayne Bacon
SF - Mario Hezonja, Jonathan Isaac, [overpaid vet]
PF - Pascal Siakam, Sani Sakakini
CE - Myles Turner, DeAndre Ayton, Jakob Pöltl, Kennedy Meeks

For the Nets it’s looking like the push for the playoffs begins this season. With the team striking out in free agency and signing Lawson and[insert name of overpaid vet] to one-year deals, the cap space should be there for them to get back at it and try to add a stud in free agency again next season.
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- GM, Brooklyn Nets [2018-2030, 2031-Present]
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Rizzo's Hall of Fame Players:
- oCSL Marcus Smart
- SG P.J. Hairston [2015 CSL Draft, Pick 1.16]
- C DeAndre Ayton [2022 CSL Draft, Pick 1.3]
- PG Shai-Gilgeous Alexander [2025 CSL Draft, Pick 1.1]

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emplep7
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by emplep7 »

I think you made some good moves and Ayton is a can't miss prospect, but I still think you're a bit away from the playoffs and will need to make a couple moves to make that push. Hez is a good scoring compliment, but he has his holes that need to be covered up by those around him and takes away scoring opportunities from some high % players at times. I think if you surround him and Ayton with the right type of player you could be talking playoffs after this upcoming season.
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by Marcos_Beck »

emplep7 wrote: Mon Feb 04, 2019 1:17 pm I think you made some good moves and Ayton is a can't miss prospect, but I still think you're a bit away from the playoffs and will need to make a couple moves to make that push. Hez is a good scoring compliment, but he has his holes that need to be covered up by those around him and takes away scoring opportunities from some high % players at times. I think if you surround him and Ayton with the right type of player you could be talking playoffs after this upcoming season.
Spot on as usual.
The offseason was vastly productive for you. The team is much improved but I feel it's a little bit too early to take the next step. It will ultimately happen though, I guess next season when you again have a good portion of cap space to spend, this might be the time for Brooklyn to improve to a playoff regular.
This year, given the East looks weaker on top but stronger all around, I'd say if you stick toe to toe to the playoff contenders it's a very solid improvement.
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by hardenwithnod »

This was a good offseason for you, but lots of young guys will need some time to develop for sure. I think in a season or two, then this team will be ready to challenge the East.
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by Flaming Homer »

Nice recap.

Back then I understood the move to rebuild but expected it to be much longer as is looks now.
Obviously getting the #3 pick helped a lot and also Hezonja playing the best ball of his career let it look much better for the Nets in the close future. The draft at all went very well and i think one year competitive ball and the free agents next year will take a serious look at the roster!

If you are in the hunt for the playoffs I guess Ayton is a big reason and plays a rookie of the year season.

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Rizzo
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by Rizzo »

Well, we struck out in free agency to the point where grossly overpaying veterans still had them running for other teams. Looks like it should continue to be a fire sale until we find our alpha male to take over next to Hezonja and Ayton.
Career Accolades:
- GM, Cleveland Cavaliers [2013-2018]
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- 0 CSL Championships
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Rizzo's Hall of Fame Players:
- oCSL Marcus Smart
- SG P.J. Hairston [2015 CSL Draft, Pick 1.16]
- C DeAndre Ayton [2022 CSL Draft, Pick 1.3]
- PG Shai-Gilgeous Alexander [2025 CSL Draft, Pick 1.1]

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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by blackice »

No team in the league has the front court depth you do and I loved the Lawson pick up. Our division is gonna be a tough challenge and in a few seasons I wouldn’t be shocked if the nets are the class of the East.
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WillyJakkz
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by WillyJakkz »

Not sure where you end up, you were kb the hunt for the PO's or squeaked in last min (can't remember).

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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by Cleasby »

Other have already mentioned where the nets are this year. I think you were unlucky with Westbrook and that deal has know got the King's in hard cap hell next year.

But I am excited to see Ayton. Have you thought about pairing Ayton and Turner together? Could be a fun twin tower experiment.

I still think the backcourt is the weak area and they will need to develop but that is always a tougher gap to fill.
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by ozymandias »

Can't wait to see how Ayton is gonna do for you. Really like him IRL.

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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by rh0xxy »

your situation at the frontcourt reminds me of Orlando, too much talent! i'm looking forward to the clash of Ayton/Poelti/Turner vs Drummond/Embiid/Chriss, that should be fun!
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by Myles »

Lot of solid players here, I think whether or not you will be a competitive team will depend on what DeAndre Ayton can get you from day 1. You're in a much better place than most teams that have top picks (this year notwithstanding), and if Ayton can be a high-impact player right away, you'll be a competitive team for sure. Your lack of guard play will definitely be your biggest downfall.

I'm going to be following Ayton's career (and also Bagley, Mitchell, and Ntilikina) very closely.

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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by Jestor »

I gotta be honest. I think people are *really* overrating your frontcourt. You don't have any scorers down low and everyone bar Ayton has at least one major weakness - whether it's turnover city or some problem in rebounding. I'd flip one of the shitty handlers (Poeltl or Siakam) for someone who can actually create their own shot in the paint.

Your season pretty much hinges on Lawson's health and play. If he goes down in one of either category, you'll be pretty terrible. The guards are that weak, especially defensively.

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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by Dennis »

Listen to Tim. I still like Turner and siakam!
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by KW »

Jestor wrote: Sun Feb 10, 2019 2:25 am I gotta be honest. I think people are *really* overrating your frontcourt. You don't have any scorers down low and everyone bar Ayton has at least one major weakness - whether it's turnover city or some problem in rebounding. I'd flip one of the shitty handlers (Poeltl or Siakam) for someone who can actually create their own shot in the paint.

Your season pretty much hinges on Lawson's health and play. If he goes down in one of either category, you'll be pretty terrible. The guards are that weak, especially defensively.
Have to agree. Need to get more variety back there. I think two of the bigs should go for more versatile players

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Rizzo
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Re: Nets Prepped for Postseason Push?

Post by Rizzo »

We are definitely looking at moving one of the bigs to even off the roster. I know that Ty Lawson is not the player I want to rely on to run the point position full time, but acquiring a young PG to groom behind him would be ideal. I also would like to add a versatile wing as well. If anyone is looking to talk trade, hit me up!
Career Accolades:
- GM, Cleveland Cavaliers [2013-2018]
- GM, Brooklyn Nets [2018-2030, 2031-Present]
- 0 CSL Championships
- 0 Eastern Conference Championships
- 0 Coach of the Year Awards
- 0 GM of the Year Awards


Rizzo's Hall of Fame Players:
- oCSL Marcus Smart
- SG P.J. Hairston [2015 CSL Draft, Pick 1.16]
- C DeAndre Ayton [2022 CSL Draft, Pick 1.3]
- PG Shai-Gilgeous Alexander [2025 CSL Draft, Pick 1.1]

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