Brooklyn Nets Roster 2019 Nets Roster

Brooklyn Nets Roster Top 3 Roster Questions

Brooklyn is in one of the worst spots among teams trying to rebuild, mainly because they haven’t owned any draft picks over the last few seasons. They made a trade for D’Angelo Russell, and have plenty of guards of youth to take a chance on. Spencer Dinwiddie showed some promise, but is likely not an NBA starting point guard in the long run. Jeremy Lin continues to battle injuries, which is hard to trust moving forward. The shooting guards and small forwards run incredibly deep. Allen Crabbe was a contract move from Portland, but has Caris LeVert, Joe Harris, and DeMarre Carroll also in these positions creating a logjam for minutes. We often see them hovering around 25-28 minutes. With so many guards and wings, the front court is thin. Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is an undersized PF, and Quincy Acy backs him up. Jarrett Allen looks like the center moving forward as Jahlil Okafor remains a large bust from the recent draft.

Can DeAngelo Russell Live up to his Potential?

The Lakers gave up on Russell early, shipping him out of town after just one season. It was anticipated that combining Russell's talents with Brooklyn's racehorse system would unleash Russell on the rest of the league. That has not yet happened. Russell has not yet been able to get on track due to injuries. The Nets have not made a long-term commitment to Russell, failing to extend him when his rookie contract is set to expire. Russell's shooting has been poor and has showed no improvement in his three years in the NBA. It is important to remember that Russell is still only 21 and has basically only played two plus seasons in the league. Russell is supposed to be the best player on the Nets and is running out of time to prove it.

Is Rondae Hollis-Jefferson now the Nets' Star?

Hollis-Jefferson's game took a large step forward last season. After playing two seasons as a player who could do all of the intangibles, but not score, Hollis-Jefferson became more of an offensive force last year. Hollis-Jefferson looked for his shot more and his True Shooting Percentage went up to .548 last year. Atkinson likes to limit his players' minutes, but Hollis-Jefferson needs to be on the floor more often. The next dimension that Hollis-Jefferson needs to add in an outside shot. He is one element away from becoming the complete package.

Can the Nets Defend Inside?

Brooklyn has elected to go small this season to facilitate Atkinson's system. There is nobody on the roster who is taller than seven feet. The Nets have struggled in rebounding margin and this season figures to be no different. Jarrett Allen is the starting center, and he is more representative of the "new NBA" where teams have been electing to go without big bodies in the middle. Allen is backed up by Kenneth Faried who is a prototypical power forward masquerading as a center. The Nets figure to have trouble in the halfcourt game without a true center this season.