Grading the Nets: Sergey Karasev

Compared to Danny Green and JJ Redick prior to the 2013 NBA Draft in which he wound up going 19th overall to the Cleveland Cavaliers, Brooklyn Nets wing Sergey Karasev has struggled to live up to those professional counterparts, as well as his draft position.

In and out of the lineup and the NBA D-League throughout his rookie season, the Cavaliers cut the chord on their Russian experiment in the 2014 offseason, shipping Karasev and Jarrett Jack off to the Nets in a deal intended to clear up cap space.

While Karasev didn’t necessarily look like a just-outside of the lottery pick, he did appear to be much improved from what we were able to see out of him while he was in Ohio. With flashes of what convinced the Cavs to take him in the first place, it seemed like Karasev was starting to gain some steam as the season moved on.

Starting half of the games that he played in, he seemed to be catching on a bit, but a devastating knee injury against the New Orleans Pelicans took him out of commission for the remainder of the year. Despite the injury, expectations had began to rise slightly as this season rolled in.

He has once again shown some glimpses, but has never been able to sustain any sort of a streak of solid play. The inconsistency of the minutes that he has received throughout the year may play a role in this, but when he has been able to string together some games with solid playing time he hasn’t been able to do much with it.

On the offensive side of the ball, Karasev was brought in as a shooter, but his stroke has been wildly out of rhythm ever since he arrived in the United States. He’s shooting less than 30% from three-point range and with his season-high being two three-pointers made in one game, it’s safe to say that any ability to hit the deep ball has not translated to the NBA.

Aside from his shooting, he’s not someone that’s able to get to the rim all that often, either. He has good size at 6’7, but he’s far too thin to be able to use that to his advantage against smaller players in the post and he’s not quite strong enough to force his way to the rim.

On the defensive end, his lack of top-level athleticism prevents him with staying with quicker defenders, and his lack of strength also prevents him from defending players in the post. He’s capable of sticking with his man for the most part when he’s on the ball, but can often be caught ball-watching when he’s away from it.

At 6’7, 200 pounds, he’s not quite quick enough to defend the top athletes at the shooting guard position, but not strong enough to defend the bigger LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony’s of the world. With this lack of true position on the defensive end, it’s tough for a coach to be able to hide Karasev.

With weaknesses on both sides of the ball, there were not many positives to point to for Sergey Karasev throughout this season. He received more playing time as the year came to a close and even pitched in a 17-point effort against the Indiana Pacers, but he still hasn’t shown enough to prove that he’ll be able to stick in the NBA beyond the immediate future.

A restricted free agent during this offseason, it may be wise for the Nets to call it quits on Karasev’s time with the team and open up the roster spot for a different young player.