As it stands, granted a clean bill of health, the Brooklyn Nets remains the team to beat in the NBA this 2021-22 season. It goes without saying that any championship-aspiring team needs a championship-level supporting cast to reach the top of the mountain. Brooklyn undoubtedly has the best foundation to build around with their Big Three of Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. With the NBA's largest payroll, there isn't much else the Nets can do to fill out their roster with high-level free agents. Nonetheless, it seems like Brooklyn done what it can to maximize its spending capabilities.
Their top recruit this summer is former San Antonio Spurs point guard Patty Mills, who absolutely balled out in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with Australia. Brooklyn also managed to re-sign 6-time All-Star Blake Griffin and Bruce Brown to one-year deals. They also brought in some tough veterans in the form of James Johnson and DeAndre Bembry to round out the roster.
Nonetheless, Brooklyn still lost a key piece from their 2021 playoff run in Jeff Green, who signed a 2-year, $9 million deal with the Denver Nuggets. Letting the veteran forward walk in free agency may have been the one big mistake the Nets made this summer.
It's likely that Brooklyn wanted Green back on the same veteran minimum deal he signed for last season. But Green more than outplayed his contract and deserved a bigger payday than the Nets were probably not willing to shell out.
Instead, Brooklyn prioritized their remaining spending capacity on a bigger name like Patty Mills. They were also able to find a big wing replacement that could fill the void Green left by bringing in James Johnson. But as mentioned, it's hard to ignore the big role Green played for the Nets, not just in the playoffs, but throughout the entire campaign.
Injuries became the main struggle for Brooklyn last season and as we came to know, that is what eventually spelled their doom in the playoffs. Green, meanwhile, was one of the Nets' healthier players throughout the campaign. He played 68 of the 72 games, averaging 27 minutes per contest. The 6-foot-8 forward also made 38 appearances in the starting unit, filling in nicely when Kevin Durant missed significant time midway through the season.
As for his on-court role, Green provided Brooklyn with a steady and efficient scorer, whether coming off the bench or filling in as a starter. In the regular season, the former Georgetown stud averaged 11.0 points while shooting 49.2 percent from the field and 41.2 percent from long distance. At this point, Green's main calling card on offense is to be a floor spacer and a catch-and-shoot sniper from beyond the arc. He is exactly the kind of supporting player the Nets on offense to surround Durant, Irving, and Harden.
Per NBA.com, 46.6 percent of his shots were of the catch-and-shoot variety and he made them at a steady 44.1 percent clip. The majority of his field goals also came without taking any dribbles, which meant that he did not need the ball in his hands to generate points on the scoreboard.
Sure, the Nets may have added an absolute sniper in Patty Mills to replace Green's ability to stroke it from distance. But Mills isn't going to replace the other intangibles he brings on the floor, especially on the defensive end.
By no means is Green a lockdown defender. But he is serviceable at best and showed he could get it done when he is locked in. Given Brooklyn's need for more size and versatility on the defensive side of the floor, Green's departure depletes the Nets' defensive versatility even more. As good as Mills should be as another off-the-bench playmaker, teams will likely target him on defense, which could force Steve Nash's hand to look elsewhere when the Australian is getting exploited.
Nets fans may now say that's why the front office brought in someone like James Johnson. The 6-foot-7 forward, however, isn't as adept as Green from long distance. The former Hoya alone brings those two attributes — 3-point shooting and defensive versatility — to the table.
Finally, for a Nets squad that hasn't played much together due to guys going in and out of the lineup, establishing continuity should have been one of their top priorities. Retaining one of their most important pieces last season in Uncle Jeff could have helped build on their chemistry.
By no means does Green's departure doom Brooklyn's chances of winning a championship. As mentioned, they are still the favorites to win it all, granted of course, their Big Three is healthy during the playoffs. But it's hard to deny just how much more value he could bring to the Nets this upcoming season in their pursuit for the 2021 NBA title.
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