At 12-30, the Nets aren’t chasing the Play-In Match anymore. They’re chasing readability.
That’s the fact Brooklyn walks into Friday’s matchup towards the Boston Celtics with, and it’s onerous to argue towards it. The mathematics isn’t mathing. The standings aren’t forgiving. And with the fifth-best draft lottery odds in hand, per Tankathon, the end line isn’t a late-season surge.
It’s utilizing these ultimate 40 video games to determine what the Nets need to be and the way they plan to climb out of this mess. As a result of the document isn’t the story anymore, and by no means actually was. This season was all the time purported to be about growth, so what issues now could be the course of the franchise and whether or not Brooklyn comes out of this stretch with a clearer sense of what it’s constructing towards.
Success for this group doesn’t need to appear to be a miracle run that saves the season. It has to appear to be turning into recognizable. Brooklyn doesn’t have to be a completed product by April, however it could possibly’t preserve drifting between variations of itself relying on the evening. An actual id is the primary win. One thing that reveals up constantly, travels and doesn’t vanish the second a number of photographs rim out. Whether or not that id is tempo, protection, versatility or some mixture, it needs to be apparent.
And habits nonetheless matter in a season like this. The Nets can’t spend the following two months gifting away video games with the identical repeat errors and name it growth. The areas that translate are the identical ones that all the time translate, like caring for the ball, ending possessions, attending to the road and defending with out fouling. You may lose video games whereas constructing towards one thing, however you’ll be able to’t preserve shedding them the identical method and fake you’re laying a basis.
That’s the place roles and lineups are available. Brooklyn doesn’t have to lock in each long-term piece by the tip of the season, however it could possibly’t reside in fixed experimentation mode, both. Success appears like a rotation that is sensible, evening to nighttime. Gamers figuring out what they’re being requested to do and doing it with conviction. Lineups that match collectively, not simply on paper, however in the best way they create spacing, match up defensively and let guys play to their strengths as a substitute of forcing them to outlive.
The event half needs to be actual, too. Not “they got reps” actual. Actual as in higher reads, sharper cuts, constant effort and improved shot choice. Higher basketball. Every rookie has proven flashes this season, Ben Saraf included, although he’s been constantly within the G League for some time now. All 5 should proceed to take strides.
Right here’s one other layer that modifications the complete dialog. The Nets aren’t strolling into this stretch empty-handed. They’ve bought a bounty of future draft capital, and that offers them leverage, not simply hope. That stash doesn’t assure something, nevertheless it does give Brooklyn choices most groups don’t have. Shifting up in drafts. Shopping for low on younger gamers. Absorbing wage for additional picks. Making an actual star commerce with out gutting the roster. Or drafting a number of swings and letting growth do the work. It’s flexibility, it issues, and normal supervisor Sean Marks is seeking to preserve it.
That’s additionally why positioning themselves for a High 3 decide this 12 months isn’t some aspect objective. It’s the clearest path to altering the franchise’s trajectory. A High 3 decide, this 12 months particularly, isn’t simply one other prospect. It’s an opportunity at a cornerstone, the kind of expertise you construct round for the following decade. And if Brooklyn is critical about maximizing this season’s consequence, success has to incorporate holding that upside intact.
Hanging that stability is the purpose. Compete nightly, play onerous, preserve it related, however don’t confuse a number of additional wins with actual progress. The Nets’ future draft capital offers them permission to be affected person. A High 3 decide offers them an opportunity to be nice. Over the ultimate 40 video games, success is constructing the precise habits and defending the larger objective on the identical time.
