Jordi Fernandez is entering his third season as the Nets’ head coach, but this will be his first chance to truly coach, Brian Lewis writes for the New York Post.
The 44-year-old coach has won 46 combined games over the last two seasons, though he is hardly to blame for Brooklyn’s struggles as the roster underwent a drastic overhaul. While the Nets don’t project to be a winning team this season either, they at least will be trying to win more, Lewis writes, given they don’t control their own first-round pick and have little incentive to tank.
They will be led by two offense-minded veteran forwards, Michael Porter Jr. and Julius Randleboth of whom have talked about exceeding expectations coming into the year. Randle is a talented but inconsistent player, and Lewis adds that getting the two-time All-NBA forward to tap into his best self, as he did for another lottery team in New York starting in 2019/20, could help stabilize the Nets as they search for their identity of the future.
Fernandez seems to have developed a strong reputation league-wide, despite his team’s performance. This season marks a chance to show what he can do at a slightly higher level.
We have more from around the Atlantic Division:
- Noah Clowney will likely move back to the bench after starting 60 games for the Nets last season, Lewis writes in a full roster breakdown for the Post. It’s imperative, entering his fourth season, that he shows growth as a shooter, which is key to his value moving forward. After hitting 36.4% of his 1.4 attempts per game as a 19-year-old rookie, the 6’10” forward has shot 33.1% on 5.8 tries per game over the last two seasons, which has dropped his overall field goal percentage to 38.2% in that time frame. Clowney’s rookie scale contract will expire in 2027.
- The Knicks are bringing most of their championship roster back this year, with the notable change being the loss of longtime backup center Mitchell Robinson and the addition of veteran Andre Drummond to take his place. Despite the value Robinson brought as a rebounder and defender, the frontcourt could be even better this year than it was last year, Kevin O’Connor argues for Yahoo! Sports. Like Robinson, Drummond is an elite offensive rebounder, and while he’s not the rim threat Robinson is, he can shoot the ball, opening up the floor for some of the Knicks’ attackers. Head coach Mike Brown could also continue experimenting with AND Anunoby as a small-ball five, or play Mohamed Diawara as a power forward next to one of the team’s bigger centers.
- Jabari Walker’s $2.6MM contract with the Sixers is only partially guaranteed for $250K, prompting Adam Aaronson of The Philly Voice to consider whether he’ll remain on the roster through the league-wide salary guarantee date on January 10. Walker had a strong year for Philadelphia last season off the bench, but those opportunities will be more limited now. Proving that he can be a viable option as a backup center and gritty defender could be helpful to his cause, as the team is currently thin behind Joel Embiidwith Dominick Barlowa more natural power forward, Adem Bonaand Ariel Hukporti competing for minutes at the five. It will also be important for Walker to show growth as a shooter.