Brooklyn
Nets ROSTER
46-24 • 2nd in EASTERN CONFERENCE
| NAME | POS | AGE | SALARY | HT | WT | COLLEGE | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #24 | Alize Johnson | F | 25 | N/A | 6' 9" | 212 lbs | MISSOURI STATE | |
| #2 | Blake Griffin | F | 32 | N/A | 6' 10" | 250 lbs | OKLAHOMA | |
| #1 | Bruce Brown | G-F | 24 | N/A | 6' 4" | 202 lbs | MIAMI (FL) | |
| #4 | Chris Chiozza | G | 25 | N/A | 5' 11" | 175 lbs | FLORIDA | |
| #6 | DeAndre Jordan | C | 32 | N/A | 6' 11" | 265 lbs | TEXAS A&M | |
| #13 | James Harden | G | 31 | N/A | 6' 5" | 220 lbs | ARIZONA STATE | |
| #8 | Jeff Green | F | 34 | N/A | 6' 8" | 235 lbs | GEORGETOWN | |
| #12 | Joe Harris | G-F | 29 | N/A | 6' 6" | 220 lbs | VIRGINIA | |
| #7 | Kevin Durant | F | 32 | N/A | 6' 10" | 240 lbs | TEXAS | |
| #11 | Kyrie Irving | G | 29 | N/A | 6' 2" | 195 lbs | DUKE | |
| #20 | Landry Shamet | G | 24 | N/A | 6' 4" | 190 lbs | WICHITA STATE | |
| #55 | Mike James | G | 30 | N/A | 6' 1" | 189 lbs | LAMAR | |
| #33 | Nicolas Claxton | F-C | 22 | N/A | 6' 11" | 215 lbs | GEORGIA | |
| #0 | Reggie Perry | F-C | 21 | N/A | 6' 8" | 250 lbs | MISSISSIPPI STATE | |
| #26 | Spencer Dinwiddie | G | 28 | N/A | 6' 5" | 215 lbs | COLORADO | |
| #9 | Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot | G-F | 26 | N/A | 6' 7" | 220 lbs | N/A | |
| #10 | Tyler Johnson | G | 29 | N/A | 6' 3" | 186 lbs | FRESNO STATE |
This is the season we finally see the dynamic duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving take the floor for the Brooklyn Nets. All eyes will also be on rookie head coach Steve Nash, who himself will need to navigate a ton of pressure in such a high-profile role.
Brooklyn saw more than a few players leave the team in the offseason, including Wilson Chandler, Jamal Crawford, Garrett Temple, and Michael Beasley, who all left as free agents. The Nets brought in some reinforcements in Landry Shamet and Bruce Brown -- both of which were acquired via trade -- as well as veteran wing Jeff Green, who himself signed with Brooklyn as a free agent.
Unfortunately for the Nets, they suffered a horrible blow early in the season as they lost Spencer Dinwiddie to a season-ending ACL injury. Needless to say, this development is going to have a significant impact on coach Nash's rotation.
The trade for James Harden has made the Nets a popular Eastern Conference champion pick, and the superstar trio has plenty of time to develop chemistry before the postseason begins.
brooklyn nets Team Analysis
The Nets come into the 2020-21 season with a much different team. With Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving all in the mix, it won’t be surprising if this team ends up as the best offensive squad in the entire league come the end of the campaign.
Last season, however, with Durant and Irving (for the most part) sitting out, Brooklyn struggled offensively. All in all, they settled for a 108.7 net offensive rating in 2019-20. This ranked just 14th in the league, which is clearly something they want to build on this season.
In terms of scoring, the Nets averaged just 111.8 points per game last term, which was 16th in the NBA. They did this on 90.3 field goal attempts per game (10th). However, they had just 40.4 makes per game (19th) for a 44.8 percent shooting as a unit (24th).
Brooklyn took a ton of threes last season, averaging 38.1 attempts per game (fifth). The problem was with their efficiency, as they hit their long-distance attempts on a 34.3-percent clip (25th).
The Nets got to the foul line 24.1 times per game last season (ninth), but their percentage from the line (74.5 percent - 25th) left a lot to be desired.
They were also a middle-of-the-road team in terms of moving the ball around, averaging 24.5 assists per game (15th).
The Nets failed to keep their turnovers down last season, averaging 15.3 per game (26th).
Behind these mediocre numbers, the Nets were still able to make it to the playoffs in the Disney World bubble. They were, however, unceremoniously booted out of the postseason by the Toronto Raptors in the first round via an embarrassing 4-0 sweep.
The Nets are a whole different monster this season and their offensive numbers are expected to improve significantly.
The absence of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving (for the majority of the campaign) had an unsurprisingly adverse effect on Brooklyn's offense last season. They were, however, a relatively formidable force on the defensive end last term -- something that their new-look squad will want to build on for the 2020-21 campaign.
In terms of overall defensive rating, the Nets ranked 10th in the entire league at 109.2. The fact that they were still in the Top-10 in spite of missing their key guys speaks volumes of how this team performed as a unit.
Last season, the Nets allowed opponents to a whopping 92.9 attempts from the field every single game. This ranked all the way at 29th in the league. However, the one thing to take away here is that despite the high volume of attempts, opposing teams made just 44.6 of their shots, which ranked sixth in the NBA.
Nets opponents averaged 34.8 attempts from distance per game (18th), and they made them on a 35.0-percent clip (ninth).
Rebounding was this team's strongest asset on the defensive end. They averaged 47.9 boards per game, which was second in the entire NBA. 37.3 of those rebounds came on defense (second).
One thing the Nets did well last term was keeping their fouls in check. They averaged just 12.8 fouls per game (third), which resulted in 22.6 free-throw attempts per game for opposing teams (13th).
The Nets averaged 7.7 steals per contest last term (14th), as well as 5.3 blocked shots (10th). This had a lot to do with the duo of Jarrett Allen (now with the Cleveland Cavaliers) and DeAndre Jordan, who between them averaged 2.2 swats per game.
Forcing turnovers is something Brooklyn will want to work on this season, as they forced an average of just 12.8 turnovers from opponents last year (28th).
The Nets come into the 2020-21 season with extremely high hopes. A championship is well within their sights, and the man they have chosen to lead the team to glory is rookie head coach Steve Nash.
Brooklyn made waves in the league when they decided to sign Nash as the team's new coach, regardless of the fact that the Hall of Fame point guard has no prior experience as a coach in the NBA.
Prior to taking over the high-profile job with the Nets, Nash served as a consultant for the Golden State Warriors for several years. He was part of the Dubs' 73-9 season as well as the 2017 championship. During this time, Nash was able to build a relationship with current Nets cornerstone superstar Kevin Durant.
Nash has a number of assistants working diligently under his rule. Most notably, former Houston Rockets head coach Mike D'Antoni, who served as Nash's head coach with the Phoenix Suns during the latter's back-to-back MVP seasons, agreed to join Nash's staff. Jacque Vaughn, who served as the squad's interim head coach last season after the firing of Kenny Atkinson, stayed on as an assistant for Nash.
Nash also has a number of former NBA players serving as his assistants in Tiago Splitter (player development), Ime Udoka, Royal Ivey, Amar’e Stoudemire, and Adam Harrington (director of player development). Jordan Ott and Lance Harris are also listed as assistant coaches.
Top brooklyn nets Roster Questions
Brooklyn's most recent signing came in the form of veteran forward Iman Shumpert, who signed a rest-of-the-season deal with the Nets on January 30.
Shumpert, who played for the Nets last season before being waived in December 2019, joined Brooklyn following the James Harden blockbuster deal that had the team part ways with Caris LeVert, Jarrett Allen, Rodions Kurucs, and Taurean Prince. The Nets needed to fill the void left by the departing quartet, and they opted to go with a 30-year-old Shumpert.
Shumpert, who was part of the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers championship in 2016, averaged 4.2 points and 2.6 rebounds per game in 13 games for the Nets last season.
The 2020-21 season is the first time the Nets are able to see their two prized superstars play alongside each other, with Kevin Durant returning from a season-long stint on the sidelines to join All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving. As it turns out, they also had plans to bring in a third superstar to Brooklyn, which came in the form of James Harden a few games into the new campaign.
As such, the Nets didn't have to do too much in the offseason in terms of adding new players via free agency. All they had to do was sign a few guys to round out the roster, and they did just that.
Veteran forward Jeff Green was their first offseason signing, with the 34-year-old putting pen to paper on a one-year deal worth $2.6 million. Green has since turned out to be a key player in the squad's rotation, and that contract is already looking like a bargain for the Nets.
Brooklyn also brought in 6-foot-3 combo guard Tyler Johnson via free agency on a one-year, $2.0 million contract. The addition of the 28-year-old adds some depth to the team's backcourt.
Other players linked to the Nets during free agency included Rajon Rondo, Serge Ibaka, and Danilo Gallinari.
After it produced its fair share of drama, the James Harden saga finally ended with the Brooklyn Nets emerging as the winner of the sweepstakes for the former MVP. The Nets were identified as one of the favorites to land Harden as soon as he made his desire to leave the Houston Rockets known, and in the end, Brooklyn got their man.
The blockbuster deal involved a lot of moving parts, and it required no less than four teams for the deal to push through. Aside from the Nets and the Rockets, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Indiana Pacers were also part of the deal.
For their part, the Nets had to give up quite a haul in order to acquire the services of Harden. Jarrett Allen and Taurean Prince made their way to the Cavs, while Caris LeVert now plies his trade with the Pacers. Moreover, Brooklyn also had to send Rodions Kurucs and three future first-round picks and four future first-round pick swaps to Houston as part of the deal.
Aside from Harden, the Nets also received a 2024 second-round pick from Cleveland. The other big name in the deal was Victor Oladipo, who made his way to Houston.
Ever since this team was established in 1967 as the New Jersey Americans, the Nets franchise has had no shortage of memorable rosters throughout its history. The Julius Irving-led New York Nets -- a squad that bagged the ABA title in 1974 and 1976 -- is one of the first teams that come to mind. The 2002/2003 team led by Jason Kidd went to the NBA Finals in back-to-back seasons, and they too were a truly historic side.
However, despite the fact that this current team has yet to prove anything on the basketball court, it's hard to argue against the notion that the 2020-21 Brooklyn Nets have to be the greatest roster in franchise history.
Having Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving -- two former NBA champions who have done so much to elevate the game of basketball in recent years -- was already enough to place this lineup in contention as one of the greatest ever for the organization. However, when they brought on James Harden, a strong MVP contender over the past several seasons, it took things to another level. It's not everyday that you get to see three potential future Hall of Famers -- all in their prime -- play alongside one another on the same team, which makes a strong case for this current team as the Nets GOAT lineup.
Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, Joe Harris, Jeff Green, Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, Landry Shamet, Iman Shumpert, and Bruce Brown round out what could go down in history as one of the greatest teams ever assembled.
The Nets' decision to bring James Harden and his $41.3 million salary in 2020-21 put Brooklyn further into the luxury tax. According to Sportac, the Nets currently have a total cap of $165.3 million, which is a whopping $56.2 million over the salary cap. Right now, it is only the Golden State Warriors ($172.2 million) that have a higher total active cap than the Nets.
Unsurprisingly, Brooklyn's Big 3 already accounts for close to 70 percent of the team's total salary. Harden ($41.3 million), Kevin Durant ($39.1 million), and Kyrie Irving ($33.5 million) already combined for $113.9 million in salaries between them.
Before suffering a season-ending ACL injury, Spencer Dinwiddie was supposed to be Brooklyn's Sixth Man. With Caris LeVert also making his way out of Brooklyn as part of the James Harden deal, the Sixth Man role is now up for grabs for a squad that boasts arguably the best starting unit in the entire NBA.
At this point, it appears that this role will fall in the hands of veteran forward Jeff Green. The 34-year-old signed as a free agent for the Nets during the offseason, and he has emerged as a key player in coach Steve Nash's rotation.
Green will play an important role for Brooklyn coming off the bench, but with three bonafide superstars in the rotation, the Nets can afford to have either Durant, Irving, or Harden lead the charge for the second unit as well.
The early-season blockbuster deal that saw James Harden take his talents to Brooklyn had a significant impact on the Nets' starting lineup. The former Houston Rockets superstar joined Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in head coach Steve Nash's starting unit. In itself, this trio is enough to make Brooklyn's starting five the most formidable in the entire NBA.
Joe Harris, the 2019 three-point contest champ, serves as the team's starting small forward, while DeAndre Jordan gets the nod at the five spot.
