Rodions Kurucs was one of the pleasant surprises for the Brooklyn Nets' overachieving 2018-19 season. The Latvian was a mid-second round pick that year but managed to play his way into a starting power forward role, earning him a spot at the Rising Stars Challenge and helping the team to a sixth seed in the playoffs.

Unfortunately, his offseason was mired by allegations of domestic assault by his live-in girlfriend (leading to his arrest), and putting a slight damper on the 21-year-old's incoming sophomore campaign. In a totally unrelated note, head coach Kenny Atkinson is playing coy on whether he will be starting despite some openings in the starting five due to a likely season-ending injury to new acquisition Kevin Durant.

During media day, Kurucs talked about Coach Atkinson's comments and what he intends to do per the New York Post's Brian Lewis:

“I can’t comment on any of that. We all understand the situation. I just know that me and Rodi have a good relationship and we talk a lot, and it’s part of your job as a coach to be a mentor and talk through on-court problems and off-court situations. That’s about all I can say on that.”

The 6-foot-9, 210-pounder also added 20-pounds to his frame in preparation for the season and is ready to compete for the frontcourt spots.

“That’s why you have camp, to compete and prove you’re a roster player. That’s what I’m about to do. Everyone is fighting for a spot trying to prove we can play.”

He certainly will have a tough competition with newcomer Taurean Prince and a healthy Caris Levert around.