2014-2015 NBA Season Preview: Brooklyn Nets Q&A

To help get ready for the 2014-2015 NBA season Pelican Debrief is going through each of the 30 NBA team’s with help from other Fansided NBA sites. Today we are joined by Martin Mihaly, the editor of From Russia With Dunk, the Fansided Network’s Brooklyn Nets blog. Martin touches on a few things Nets related included ways the new coaching staff in Brooklyn, how lineups can play out and more. So let’s get to the questions.

1. The Nets went through a bunch of off court turmoil this season. How do you think the Lionel Hollins will do as head coach with an experienced roster?

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Martin: Lionel Hollins had plenty of success during his tenure with the Memphis Grizzlies.  He helped develop a young and inexperienced squad into one of the best teams in the league before he was let go due to financial reasons.  Zach Randolph was their only experienced star player and even he changed for the better with the help of Hollins. This time around, Hollins is inheriting a team that is led by experienced veterans and yet the Brooklyn Nets have plenty of question marks heading into the season due to the departures of Shaun Livingston, Paul Pierce and last year’s head coach Jason Kidd.

The team struggled mightily at the beginning of last season as Kidd was trying to find his way in coaching and the Nets were adjusting to a relatively new roster.  It took the Nets half way through the season to finally get it going.  Don’t expect that this season. The team is back to the core three of Brook Lopez, Deron Williams and Joe Johnson. Kevin  Garnett and Andrei Kirilenko will help, but the team’s greatest success will be based off the performance of the three players.  Expect Johnson to play a similar role as Rudy Gay did under Hollins in Memphis, Williams will once again be the primary ball handler and Lopez will be a major factor on both the offensive and defensive ends.  With Hollins at the helm, he could help develop Lopez into an even better defensive player.

2. The Nets were successful last year in part to strange lineups that were huge in the back court and a bit small in the front court. With Hollins in charge and Brooke Lopez back what is going to be the biggest part of changing and being successful with a more traditional lineup?

Martin:  The biggest concern when Hollins was in Memphis was the team’s lack of creativity and ball movement on the offensive end.  Hollins has stated he wants to play a faster style with the Nets.

The biggest difference for the Nets will likely be on the defensive end.  The Nets finished 11th in the NBA last season allowing an average of 99.5 points per contest.  Hollins is a much more defensive minded coach who made the Grizzlies one of the best defensive teams in the league.  While he doesn’t have a Marc Gasol or Tony Allen on this team, he does have a good defensive big man in Lopez and a guy like Kirilenko who can be used in multiple positions.

3. The Pelicans and Nets both have experience with a player becoming a shell of themselves with Eric Gordon and Deron Williams. What do you expect from Williams this year and do you have any hope that he will regain his old form? 

Martin:  Last season, Williams averaged 14.3 points and 6.1 assists and it is fair to say that with Pierce and Livingston gone Williams numbers will be higher.  One of the main problems with Williams since he was traded to the Nets years ago has been the status of his ankles.  He stated this offseason that his ankles feel the best they have in years after having surgery on both ankles after the season ended.  Staying healthy is obviously a big factor into the type of season that Williams will have.

Hollins stated that Williams will once again be the primary ball handler for the Nets, a change from last season where Livingston absorbed a significant portion of that job.  It’s unrealistic to ask Williams to return back to his form when he was a member of the Utah Jazz, as he is now over three years removed from that time.  It’s more likely that Williams returns back to the way he played during the second half of the 2012-13 season with the Nets.  Williams was once again playing like one of the best point guards in the league as he averaged 22.9 points and 8.0 assists in 28 games following the All-Star break.

4. Also like the Pelicans the Nets have traded away a bunch of first round draft picks in a row for more veteran pieces. Where you in favor of the moves and how are the Nets doing in finding low cost alternatives like the Pelicans have with Alexis Ajinca, Luke Babbitt and (last year) Anthony Morrow? 

Martin:  Admittedly, at the time Nets made each one of their trades I was pretty much in favor of each of them as it had seemed they were putting together a championship contending team.  The only move that I was a bit skeptical about was when the Nets gave up a first-round pick to get Gerald Wallace.  Although the Nets were not likely going to take this player with Williams already being on the roster anyway, that pick turned out to be Damian Lillard.

With the Nets going basically with a championship or bust mentality, I was in favor of the team trading away picks for Johnson, Pierce and Garnett.  The results, especially last season, have been a bit underwhelming to same the least.

The Nets made some moves this offseason to acquire some young players.  They drafted Markel Brown and Cory Jefferson, finally agreed on negotiations with their overseas prospect Bojan Bogdanovic, and acquired second-year player Sergey Karasev from the Cleveland Cavaliers (a trade where they also acquired Jarrett Jack and helped the Cavaliers clear up enough room to bring back LeBron James).  Also, the Nets have veterans like Kirilenko and Alan Anderson under relatively inexpensive deals.

5. What would be the best case scenario for the Nets this year? The worst case? What do you expect from them? 

Martin:  The Nets success will depend on several factors.  The team will have to adjust to a different style of play under Hollins and Hollins will have to learn what best fits his new team.  Williams will have to play significantly better than he did last year.  However, the biggest factor to the team’s success, as is the same with many other teams in the NBA, will be the team’s health.  Williams, Garnett and Kirilenko each missed a significant amount of time last season and Lopez broke his foot and only played 17 games.

With that being said, I expect the Nets to finish anywhere from 47-52 wins this season and to finish anywhere from third to sixth in the Eastern Conference.  I believe the team will be slightly better than last year’s version but they are playing in a much improved Eastern Conference.  They will be ousted in the second round by either the Cavaliers or the Chicago Bulls.