Brooklyn Nets: Checklist for the remainder of 2018

As the final trimester of the NBA season gets under way, it’s important to go over what the Brooklyn Nets should be doing with these last 23 games.

The portion of the NBA season that follows the All-Star break has turned into quite a binary festival. Teams are either giving every ounce of energy possible to attain a playoff berth, or are trying to keep it secret that the No. 1 pick is their goal (except the Dallas Mavericks).

The Brooklyn Nets straddle between these parameters. Without their own first round pick, it is pointless to outright tank.

Fortunately, like many lottery-bound teams, the Nets are bad because of their excessively young roster. Unlike the majority of said teams though, the Nets take that trend to a level only familiar to those knowledgeable of Sam Hinkie’s Process. Eight of Brooklyn’s 13 most-used players are 25 or younger, and sharpshooter Joe Harris is 26.

As a result, the losses are coming organically. They don’t matter to Brooklyn either way. What matters to the Nets is how their youngsters are developing.

This has been the main goal since the rebuild began, but it has gone to a new level since the end of the 2016-17 season. General manager Sean Marks has made a bevy of moves since, thereby saturating the once barren asset pantry.

Because of the copious amounts of youngsters in need of playing time, many would say head coach Kenny Atkinson’s job can get difficult. However, this situation is actually where his intuitive brain can shine brightest. Here are some boxes he and the front office can check off on their way to the finish line.

Get bold

With a rebuild comes some fun, low-risk attempts at game play. In a league where positional delineations are vaporizing, the possibilities for five-man units approach infinity.

Get even younger

As previously mentioned, the Nets’ rotation players are quite inexperienced. So, the only way to debunk that stigma is to play them. Sure DeMarre Carroll and Quincy Acy provide stability on the court, but wouldn’t those minutes pay more dividends down the line if they were funneled into the youth movement?

Isaiah Whitehead hasn’t shown much promise yet, but deploying him for only 178 total minutes so far won’t allow him to exhibit much. Who knows what James Webb III is capable of if he doesn’t get tick? The next diamond in the rough might already be on the roster; it’s just a matter of unearthing him. That can only happen by giving players chances to showcase themselves.

The remaining veterans on the roster are not going to make a fuss about a decrease in playing time. DeMarre Carroll was traded to the Nets because he’s being overpaid. Quincy Acy is a glue guy; he’d be content with waterboy duties. They’d be glad to cede minutes and touches for the sake of long-term growth.

Get to know the 2019 draft class

Long-term growth is a term the Nets have become quite familiar with. How they act now can drastically impact how they act later. As anyone familiar with the Nets knows, this upcoming draft is the last one in which they owe their first round draft pick to anyone else as a result of a previous regime’s actions. In other words, the Nets will (somewhat) control their own draft position a year from now.

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Nets’ brass should already be looking at the projected top prospects in that class. They should be getting to know players like R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson. Players of this high-upside mold will be Brooklyn’s best chance to leapfrog to contention, because the current roster does not have any standout superstar prospects. The players who have shown flashes of such talent, a la D’Angelo Russell, have failed to do so on a consistent basis.

2019 might also be the last draft in which the team can get away with throwing in the proverbial towel. Some of the players on the roster will hopefully improve over time, and by the end of next season, they may be too productive to permit tanking.

This is a very difficult stage in the rebuild. The front office will be tempted to talk themselves into the current core, but the reality is that they need a “guy.” Maybe even two of them. The incumbents mostly project as role players and complements.

Next: 2017-18 Week 19 NBA Power Rankings

There is a light at the end of this tunnel, but rushing to it might capsize the dungeon entirely. The front office must be extra vigilant with player evaluation; who they choose to retain, and who they choose to add from this point forward, are all crucial to Brooklyn’s ascent from the NBA’s cellar. Quite frankly, all of the boxes on this checklist are important in reaching that point. It only gets better from here.

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