If there is a team that closes the nets in terms of injury and illness, it’s the Washington Wizards. Neither their superstars nor their most trusted sharpshooter are in Orlando. So their chances of catching the nets and forcing them to a play-in tournament are slim.
But ESPN’s Jalen Rose and Kevin O’Connor think it’s better for the Nets to put aside the playoff dreams and focus on 1) the Draft in which they should keep their first round if they are founders, and 2) the team’s youth … use the “bubble” to develop them.
“The best thing for them would be not to make the playoffs, to get your pick,” Jalen Rose told The Post.
“If you are choosing and looking at the list that will take the floor – [missing] Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, DeAndre Jordan, Spencer Dinwiddie, Wilson Chandler, Michael Beasley – the [only] thing that I’m excited to see with the nets is that Jamal Crawford does his Carmel 2.0. For networks other than that, take that lottery choice. “
At the moment the nets are in seventh place, with a half game in front of the magic and six games in front of the magicians. If the nets drop to eighth place and Washington reaches 3.5 games from Brooklyn, the two will face off on 15 and 16 August to contest eighth place. if the nets win the first game, they are in. If Washington beats them twice, I’m out.
This would bring the nets back to the lottery and their two top 20 picks. Their first rounder was sent to Atlanta essentially for Taurean Prince. Atlanta then moved him to Minnesota. But it is protected by the lottery. So if the nets lose the playoffs, their next big date would be August 25th, the Draft Lottery. There will be no doubt that this year will be virtual (and will almost certainly come out of the “bubble”).
It’s not about tanks, says Kevin O’Connor of the ringtone. It’s about being realistic about your limited chance of moving forward. After all, in addition to losing so much firepower, they now have five timeless players this year or less than 50 minutes. Jamal Crawford and Lance Thomas have yet to play, Justin Anderson (once signed), Jeremiah Martin and 22-year-old Donta Hall, have a total of 91 minutes combined. With 48 minutes, Hall has more than half of the total.
So O’Connor writes, plays the kids and, according to Rose, take a look at Crawford …
The following month will be an opportunity for most teams to fight for the post season, and then try to advance to the second round. But for some teams like networks, it’s a time for player development. And for Crawford, it’s time to prove that he still has something to offer a competitor once he hits the free agency again in this offseason. We are about to find out if this is the end of Crawford or the beginning of his new beginning.
Of course, nets will play, out of necessity, for children. The question is how much. Jarrett Allen, Rodions Kurcus and Hall are all 22 years old; Dzanan Musa is 21 years old; Martin 23 and Chris Chiozza 24. The networks will have to take a look at many of them as the free agencies approach. Sean Marks will need to determine if Allen and Musa are worth extending another year or, in Allen’s case, they are worth a big contract starting in 2021-22. Such contractual decisions must be made before the start of the next season. This fall Chiozza will be a limited free agent as well as Martin. The hall will not be subject to restrictions.
And the GM of the networks will probably want to see if any of them have commercial value if they decide to choose the proverbial third star. A lottery choice would also help in that search.
Rose and O’Connor are thrilled – and in the case of O’Connor a little skeptical – of what Crawford can bring.
“It deserves work from the training camp,” said Rose. “Now I think I’m back on the bubble – go one on one, undress some people and make top shows, he and Caris dance – now he goes next season if he’s not a member of the networks, someone else’s team will be based on someone else about that opportunity. “
“He has scored 27, 28 and 19 points in his previous three games,” O’Connor wrote of Crawford’s well-known 51-point game the last time he took the field seriously. “The problem is that Crawford has looked at his age for the previous 60 games, averaging 6.4 points on shooting at 36% while playing with the old man’s defense. The nets have lost almost all of their roster for Crawford to get a chance to play basketball again. “
Network plans, of course, could change again. They have an opening, which apparently is reserved for Anderson, but as we know from experience, things have a tendency to become strange.
