3 reasons the Brooklyn Nets can win over 28.5 games in 2018-19

3. Improved depth

The main reason those aforementioned injuries hurt the team so bad was because of how thin the bench was. General manager Sean Marks and his crew made sure to account for that this past summer, adding veterans at every position.

Shabazz Napier should fortify the bench as a scoring spark plug, as he did for the Portland Trail Blazers last season. Ed Davis is a serviceable rim protector and rebounder who played valuable minutes behind Jusuf Nurkic last season in Portland. Kenneth Faried is a supercharged Trevor Booker who can actually play valuable basketball with a similar skill-set. Treveon Graham, the low-usage 3-and-D wing every team needs, might just be the steal of the summer.

Not to mention the internal depth that comes from these signings as well. Assuming a starting lineup of Russell, Allen Crabbe, DeMarre Carroll, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Jarrett Allen, Dinwiddie becomes an elite backup. If Atkinson wants to do a Russell-Dinwiddie hydra, then LeVert can come in for any of the starting 1 through 4, and Crabbe becomes the ideal bench sniper. Having Joe Harris as the second or third perimeter player off the bench is wonderful, as the team can hide him better on defense.

Depth creates a domino effect on a basketball roster as opposed to pigeonholing players into certain roles. Players with various skill-sets make the lineup combinations more copious, and therefore harder to game plan for. Atkinson’s mottoes have always been about the team, and he certainly has a deep team this year.