Nets can use NBA Draft to fill holes in rebounding, shooting and ballhandling
The Nets’ Nic Claxton dunks in the second quarter over the 76ers’ Paul Reed at Barclays Center on April 22. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
With three picks in Thursday’s NBA Draft, the Nets have a great chance to fill key needs. Two of those picks are in the first round at Nos. 21 and 22.
Getting swept by the 76ers in the playoffs showed the limits of the team’s current construction around Mikal Bridges. He’s a budding star who figures to grow even more playing with Team USA in the FIBA World Cup this summer. But to get back to the playoffs, the Nets need to improve around him.
Here are three key weaknesses the Nets should address in the draft:
Rebounding
The Nets are deep on wings but short on height, aside from Nic Claxton. It was one of several things that made them a sub-.500 team after trading Kevin Durant and was painfully exposed during the first-round sweep by the 76ers.
In four games, the Nets had only 23 offensive rebounds, six more than 76ers forward Paul Reed had by himself. Besides being 25th in rebounding after the Durant trade, the Nets were 27th in second-chance points and 28th in opponent rebounds per game.
Poor rebounding leads to extra possessions for your opponent and fewer for you. The Nets have to get tougher in the paint and Claxton, who averaged 8.0 rebounds in that series, said as much.
But he needs more help inside. Day’Ron Sharpe must improve this summer; the second-year forward averaged fewer minutes this season (11.5) than his rookie year (12.2). Maybe a healthy Ben Simmons would bring more rebounding to the mix.
Either way, this should be a top priority.
Shooting
As bad as the Nets are in the area of rebounding, it’s even more glaring because they lack shooting.
After the Durant trade, the Nets were last in the NBA in field-goal percentage (45.2%) and shot even worse against the 76ers (44.0%). With Seth Curry expected to become a free agent, the Nets’ only perimeter shooting threats are Joe Harris, who was 1-for-12 on three-pointers in the first round, and Cam Johnson.
The Nets also need more efficient scoring in the paint; they were last in paint points per game. This weakness and poor rebounding leads to empty possessions and fewer second-chance opportunities.
Harris shot 42.6% on three-pointers last season, but his 7.6 points was his lowest average in seven seasons with the Nets. Upgrades from Royce O’Neale and Dorian Finney-Smith would help.
The Nets don’t just need more consistent scoring, they need shooters to space the floor and put less pressure on Bridges and Johnson to carry the offense.
Ballhandling
This was an area that Simmons was expected to take care of, but his back injuries limited him to 42 games and Spencer Dinwiddie had his ups and downs after arriving in a midseason trade.
Dinwiddie averaged 9.1 assists in 26 games but shot just 40.4% from the field. As a free agent next summer, it’s possible he won’t be the long-term solution at point guard, but who will be? Simmons remains a question mark; can he avoid further injury and regain his All-Star form? Cam Thomas is a dazzling scorer, but he’s not a true point guard.
The Nets need more facilitators around Bridges, but they also need to be able to knock down shots.
Evan Barnes covers the Giants for Newsday. He previously covered the Brooklyn Nets, Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
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