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If you watched the Brooklyn Nets last season, you likely noticed a glaring hole at backup center behind Nic Claxton, a product of the team's reluctance to play second-year big man Day'Ron Sharpe. However, after ranking 28th in defensive rebounding in 2022-23, head coach Jacque Vaughn is giving Sharpe an expanded opportunity to win the job early this year.
“I think Day'Ron Sharpe gets an early look and see how he can impose his will not only helping us put things back to neutral by offensive rebounding but at the same time, being big and a force for us at the rim. So he's a guy that probably will garner some minutes early,” Vaughn said at Media Day. “Nic and Day'Ron will have a chance to impose their will early on.”
The Nets selected Sharpe out of North Carolina with the 29th pick in the 2021 draft. The 21-year-old impressed briefly last season during a nine-game stretch in late March, averaging 7.0 points and 5.8 rebounds on 64.1 percent shooting in 13.2 minutes per game.
While Sharpe has shown the ability to bang with NBA centers using his high motor and 265-pound frame, he is extremely raw on both ends of the floor, struggling to defend in space or finish plays in traffic offensively. The Nets are banking on improvement in those areas to complement Sharpe's high-level rebounding, and the third-year center said Vaughn's trust in him early is a testament to the work he put in this summer.
“I’ve been putting the work in this summer, the last two years, really. I think it’s showing that they’ve seen that and are trusting me more coming in,” Sharpe said at Media Day. “I’ve been trying to be more professional this year.”
“At the end of the day, we all know I get boards, that’s what I do. Whenever I get out there, I’m gonna do what I’ve gotta do to help the team win.”
Sharpe's rebounding could go a long way for a Nets team that lost the second-chance points battle 80-22 during a first-round sweep against the Philadelphia 76ers. The former first-round pick averaged 13.0 rebounds per 36 minutes last season. More impressively, he led the NBA in offensive rebound percentage among players to play at least 500 minutes.
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However, Sharpe's lack of lateral mobility frequently led to struggles defending the pick-and-roll in Brooklyn's switch-heavy scheme. Vaughn has said the Nets will incorporate more drop coverage this season to improve their defensive rebounding. The coach said the adjustment will offer increased opportunities for Sharpe, who he hopes to see translate his dominance as an offensive rebounder to the defensive end.
“The drop coverage at times will give Day’Ron more opportunities to be in the game, but just like my conversation with him now, he has to impact the game on both ends of the floor, and that's rebounding on both ends of the floor,” Vaughn said Wednesday. “But that coverage will help him. We'll have some opportunities where we're using it all. We’re gonna have the full toolbox defensively.”
Sharpe said he is a fan of the defensive adjustment ahead of Brooklyn's first preseason game.
“Drop will help us rebounding, mainly,” he told The New York Post's Brian Lewis. “When we switch 1-through-5 … it wasn’t so much Nic or I was getting cooked every play. It was more so we’re out on the perimeter, they’re shooting the ball, the other guys (are) down there getting the rebounds.”
“So, personally, I like to drop better. I like getting boards, I like being physical. And I don’t like it when I feel like my matchup is killing me, either. So at the end of the day, I feel like it’s going to help us a lot.”
Sharpe doesn't enter 2023-24 without competition for the backup center minutes. The Nets signed two small-ball options in Trendon Watford and Darius Bazley. While Sharpe has over 25 pounds on both free agent signings, Watford and Bazley offer three-point threats with far greater offensive versatility alongside non-shooting point guards in Ben Simmons and Dennis Smith Jr.
Among the things to watch for tonight is how the Nets deploy Trendon Watford, who has very intriguing ability as a passer and finisher out of the short roll.
Watford (6'8") and Darius Bazley (6'9") both have size and skillsets that allow them to play anywhere from SF to C. Will… pic.twitter.com/hleg5gOSzQ
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) October 9, 2023
Darius Bazley has some nice defensive upside in the Nets' switch-heavy scheme at 6'9" with a 7'0" wingspan.
I could see him playing a change-of-pace role at center alongside Ben Simmons. His semblance of a 3-point shot (31% for career) and ball-handling could come in handy there pic.twitter.com/CUEY4eK8qW
— Erik Slater (@erikslater_) July 20, 2023
Sharpe will have the first crack at the backup center role with the Nets prioritizing defensive rebounding, but history tells us general manager Sean Marks wants to play a fast-paced, three-point-heavy style. The third-year Net will need to dominate the boards early if he hopes to prevent Brooklyn from leaning into small ball with Wartford and Bazley on his heels.
