New Orleans Pelicans: 3 storylines to watch against the Brooklyn Nets

New Orleans Pelicans: The best of the rest for Brooklyn

A lot of the hype about the Brooklyn Nets is rightfully predicated on having Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving on the same squad, but that does not mean that the rest of Brooklyn’s players should be overlooked.

With the big three on their team, Brooklyn is obviously not in the most financially flexible situation. That’s why it was such a boost to get Blake Griffin and LaMarcus Aldridge on tiny contracts. But the Nets have also had to get creative with filling out the rest of their roster.

So far, the Nets’ front office has done an excellent job at providing head coach Steve Nash with valuable options at a low price. The Pelicans need to ensure that they account for Brooklyn’s bit-part players.

Four that come to mind are Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot, Bruce Brown, Nic Claxton, and Alize Johnson.

Luwawu-Cabarrot was drafted in the first round by the Sixers back in 2016, but did not really find his spot in the city of brotherly love. After a couple of short stints for other teams, it appears that he has indeed found his NBA home in the Northeast, albeit on the Nets.

The man affectionately referred to as “TLC” has been a solid complementary piece in Brooklyn. When the top dogs in his team are out, he can carry a bit more of an offensive burden. Otherwise, Luwawu-Cabarrot is effective doing the dirty work and spacing the floor. He makes 34 percent of his catch-and-shoot threes, a rocky number but good enough to be respected.

Brown is a 6-foot-4 guard who essentially operates as a big for the Nets. He provides great versatility on both ends of the floor and can do damage setting screens and rolling to the basket. He is in the 78th percentile as a roll man, better than any Pelican not named Zion Williamson.

Now going to the frontcourt, Claxton is a name to watch out for in the years to come. He came out of the University of Georgia as a lanky do-it-all big who could equally shoot threes, rebound, and run the pick-and-roll. After barely playing in his rookie season because of injury issues, Claxton is arguably the Nets’ most important big right now.

Claxton is statistically the switchiest defender in the NBA. At 6-foot-11, he is big enough to guard bigs and also mobile enough to guard down positions on the perimeter.

Finally, Alize Johnson is a G League standout who is in his second 10-day contract with the Nets. Whenever he’s gotten playing time, Johnson has looked like a quality player. He isn’t much of an outside shooter, but can be likened to James Johnson on the Pels in that he can bring the ball up, facilitate for others, and score from the elbows in.