The Nets know what the score is, and more precisely, what the standings are. They haven’t been eliminated yet, but this season has reached a point where they need to start planning for next season.
It’s time to play with the kids.
As it happens for the Nets, playing with kids doesn’t have to be the same as raising the white flag. Or lower your expectations.
That doesn’t mean benching all of their starting pitchers in Wednesday’s 122-119 overtime win at Washington, or that they’ll struggle in a year when they don’t even have a first-round draft pick. But that means a sprinkling of youngster Trendon Watford and rookies Jalen Wilson and Noah Clowney.
And to give both the front office and interim coach Kevin Ollie, or whoever is in charge of this team next season, a chance to see what they have.
Or don’t have it.
“Our young people, [we’ve] We have a bright future with our young players,” Ollie said before Wednesday’s win. “They came up, stepped up and played really well with Noah and Jaywill and Tee Watt played really well in the last game. And the execution down to the very end was great. It was.
“So, I’m going to continue to learn about them, and they’re going to continue to learn about me and what I want for this team. In life and in basketball, it’s always learning to evolve in anything.” So I’m going to learn about them every day. ”
Unfortunately, this season has turned from winning to scouting. But certainly the Nets need to learn about their youth, from Ollie to general manager Sean Marks.
The Nets are still 5 1/2 games behind Atlanta for the final play-in spot with nine days remaining, and that number has now been tragically reduced to just five games. Whether we like to admit it or not, it is clearly time for evaluation.
Leading scorer Cam Thomas is only 22 years old. Starting center Nick Claxton is 24 years old and an unrestricted free agent.
Dayron Sharpe, 22, proved to be an effective backup. But what is Clowney like at only 19 years old?
Clowney grabbed four rebounds in just 10 minutes, 36 seconds against the Wizards and finished with a plus-six, second-best on the team. And two nights earlier, he logged nine minutes alongside Claxton in Toronto, during which Brooklyn posted an excellent 52.6 net rating. The pair made 11 of 15, grabbed 11 boards and outscored the Raptors by 13 points.
“It was great that they trusted me with the minutes,” said Clowney, who spent most of the season in the G League. “First of all, my goal is to guard. I don’t like it when someone else scores and I’m on the floor, so I think I had no choice. Yeah, that’s my initial mindset, and I’m nervous on the offensive end. I just played with confidence and freedom, without being scared or afraid. Just hooping.
“I played No. 4 in college, so I’m in familiar territory. Now, it’s been a while since I’ve operated a screen or anything like that. I haven’t done that in a long time. But the point of playing with those guys is So, it opened up a lot of different opportunities for me. …So I’m just hooping around.
Wilson made his second start on Monday and had 12 points and five boards (plus-8) in 30 minutes. In those starts, he averaged double-digit points and shot .429 from deep. However, both rookies are under contract for next season. Not so at Watford.
Only 23, Watford are intriguing. He scored 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting Wednesday, setting a season-high 19 points and seven boards for Toronto.
In eight games in which he logged at least 20 minutes, he is averaging 13.4 points, 5.3 boards, and .520/.400/.852 splits. Watford’s playing time has fluctuated as he became a free agent on a minimum contract. The former is probably more common now.
“[I love] his energy. He is always in attack mode. He’s a very confident basketball player,” Oley said. “He’s more of a point forward type of player. I can play at that point and I can play with him all over the court, so it gives us a lot of options.”
It’s an option the Nets will need to consider over the final few weeks.
