The nets have only a dozen healthy players they can count on as they prepare to head to Orlando, and only a great legitimate man after their backcountry has been decimated by injury and coronavirus.
But it looks like they are about to add some reinforcements, and most likely they will be in the paint.
“Overall, we must have as many bodies as possible by going to Orlando,” said interim technician Jacque Vaughn on a Saturday call from Zoom. “We have eight games in 14 days, so the demand from our athletes, the more bodies available, the better we will be for sure.”
The DeAndre Jordan center tested positive for COVID-19 and ruled out rebooting, and power forward Wilson Chandler has given up on similar concerns. Both were starting when the season ended in March.
Add Nic Claxton’s late season injury and this leaves Jarrett Allen as the only healthy net higher than 6 feet-9. Expect GM Sean Marks to sign a great man as a substitute for Jordan.
“We absolutely have to think about it,” said Vaughn. “Sean and I spoke this morning during a phone call and talked about how to deal with our size and not to make extra requests to Jarrett. So it could definitely be a path we take for sure.
“It will certainly be a bit of a stress test for us. Whether it’s the amount of minutes we play Jarrett Allen at 5, whether it’s creativity in the backup location, it changes the rotations. “
Goals have 6-11 John Egbunu in the G-League. Dragan Bender, Deyonta Davis and Christ Koumadje are also options.
Brooklyn will play three scrimmages before resuming the NBA season on July 31 against Orlando at Disney.
The Nets play Sion Williamson’s pelicans on July 22nd at 9:00 pm, then face the Spurs on July 25th at 4:30 pm before ending with Jazz on July 27th at 5:30 pm
“Really, the goal of those games is to give some kids some rhythm,” said Vaughn. “Our kids didn’t play 3 against 3, 5 against 5, none of the normal accumulations in which it took place in a regular season. More than anything else, conditioning will be a piece of it.
“It’s nothing like pushing away from a screen or lifting a guy running down the floor or more efforts in a show and then getting your body used to doing those movements over and over again. Much will be based on getting some rhythm and then also on the conditioning aspect of it. “
Vaughn said the nets that remained on the market were ahead of the rest in terms of conditioning, citing Garrett Temple, Joe Harris, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot and Dzanan Musa.
He praised the competitiveness of newcomer Tyler Johnson, but added that the team will have to be judicious with its minutes.
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