The Brooklyn Nets were a team without an identity at the end of the 2022-23 season.
Following the trades of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving at last year's deadline, Brooklyn welcomed Mikal Bridges, Cam Johnson and Dorian Finney-Smith, three defensive-minded wings, alongside a sizable guard in Spencer Dinwiddie. While the new-look roster possessed nowhere near the same level of shot creation as recent years, it offered new strengths: Length, athleticism and defensive versatility.
The Nets' moves this offseason signaled a clear intent to lean into those areas. The team moved on from aging shooters Joe Harris, Patty Mills and Seth Curry in favor of young, versatile athletes like Dennis Smith Jr., Lonnie Walker IV, Trendon Watford and Harry Giles.
Entering 2023-24, Brooklyn's roster posts an average height of 6-foot-6 and an average wingspan of 6-foot-9. The Nets have eight players who ranked in the 80th percentile or better in defensive estimated plus-minus last season, per dunksandthrees.com. Dinwiddie is confident that the personnel shift should result in a high-level defensive unit this season.
“We have a potential DPOY in Nic Claxton. We have All-Defensive team selections and Ben Simmons and Mikal Bridges. We have potential All-Defensive team selections in Dorian Finney-Smith, Royce O’Neale and Cam Johnson,” Dinwiddie said. “We’ve got Dennis Smith too, who could be an All-Defensive team guy as well. So I would definitely expect for us to have a good defense as the season progresses.”
“With eight out of our top 10 being All-Defensive team caliber guys, I think we have to hang our hat on that.”
Despite their influx of defensive talent at the trade deadline, the Nets struggled to improve during a 30-game stretch to close last season. Brooklyn's revamped squad ranked 17th in defensive rating during that span.
Head coach Jacque Vaughn used the sample size to evaluate his team's weaknesses and tweak his schemes around new personnel entering 2023-24.
“We're a different team,” Vaughn said Tuesday. “You have a group that played a good ton of minutes for us that aren't here anymore. For me, I was able to kind of diagnose what our team was going to look like after the offseason and really look at some of the weaknesses that we have. How can I lean into some of those strengths? Could we create a defense that allowed us to take up for some of our deficiencies and use the versatility and the length that we have?”
Nets must address rebounding in 2023-24 to reach defensive potential
When assessing Brooklyn's weaknesses, none were more glaring than the team's 28th-ranked defensive rebounding rate last season. The deficiency doomed the Nets during their first-round sweep against the Philadelphia 76ers, with the 76ers outscoring Brooklyn 80-22 in second-chance points.
A primary reason for those rebounding struggles was the Nets' switch-heavy scheme, which pulled Nic Claxton away from the rim, leaving them vulnerable on the glass with smaller guards underneath on centers. This has led to a significant adjustment in pick-and-roll coverage this season, with Vaughn incorporating a heavy amount of drop coverage. In this coverage, the screener's defender drops towards the rim, playing between the ball handler and roll man rather than switching onto the perimeter.
The change showed growing pains during the preseason, with Brooklyn ranking in the bottom third of the league in defensive rating. However, Vaughn is confident in his group's ability to grasp the new system.
“The good thing about us this year is we were able to do it all together from the start. I'm able to explain the ‘why' with this group. I think it is extremely important why we decide to play defense this way,” Vaughn said. “I'm the first one to explain why we're doing something to get some sort of understanding and discussion amongst the group. I think that's been the biggest difference this training camp.”
Vaughn will get his first look at Brooklyn's revamped defense when the Nets open the regular season Wednesday at home against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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