Brooklyn Nets: 3 big questions heading into 2019-20

1. Development vs. winning

While it may be easy to say that the Nets should focus all their minutes on contention, the equation isn’t that simple.

Bringing in Kyrie Irving and Kevin Durant signifies a makeover that few teams have ever undergone. Are the Nets ready to sacrifice what they’ve built to appease their franchise players?

Brooklyn built its culture on organic growth, quality veteran personalities and a huge emphasis on developmental coaching. It’s obvious that this was successful, but now that playtime is over, it begs the question of how much the Nets can afford to lean into the win-now method.

Irving had a tough time dealing with Boston’s youth, at one point calling LeBron James as an apology for not understanding his perspective on inexperienced players. D’Angelo Russell, though a fine price to pay for Durant and Irving, was a prime example of how adept Brooklyn is at maximizing players.

A huge factor in all the hits Brooklyn had in player improvement came from head coach Kenny Atkinson’s deep roster. No player has averaged more than 30 minutes per game since he took over in Brooklyn, and the rotation sometimes ran as deep as possible.

A good bit of this was necessary, especially last year when the Nets had an objectively deep roster on any given night. None of the players were great, but all of them, even the youngsters, were competent.

This season is no different. Every last player the Nets signed has non-negative experience in an NBA rotation and those who don’t are youth who need to play. The G League will only suffice for them for so long, especially after the Long Island Nets were a game short of winning the Finals.

The big league squad didn’t upgrade Theo Pinson’s contract to let him rot on the bench. Dzanan Musa is raw, but probably ready for NBA minutes soon. Nicolas Claxton has the smarts, tools and the build to hang right away. Not giving them the proper seasoning during the 82-game regular season grind would be a waste.

Now it’s a matter of how willing the vets are to let that happen. How well the system and culture stay intact will be a huge indication, good or bad, of the organization’s strength on its whole.