Grading the Nets: Shane Larkin

The son of Major League Baseball legend Barry Larkin, Brooklyn Nets point guard Shane Larkin did an exceptional job at building his own legacy during his time playing at the University of Miami. An All-ACC Freshman team member during his first year with the Hurricanes, Larkin managed to build on that and was named ACC Player of the Year as a sophomore.

His college career was impressive and despite his size, standing just 5’11 and weighing 175 pounds, Larkin drew the attention of NBA scouts due to his ability on the offensive side of the basketball. The hype behind him grew and with that, the Atlanta Hawks selected him 18th overall in the 2014 NBA Draft, though later traded the pick to the Dallas Mavericks.

He was able to get by on his exceptional quickness at the collegiate ranks, but with the superior athletes of the NBA that advantage decreased significantly. Without that portion of his game, it was a tough transition to the professional ranks.

Before long, Larkin was traded to the New York Knicks the following offseason in the deal that brought Tyson Chandler back to the Mavericks. With far less competition ahead of him on a Knicks team that had finished the season with 37 wins, Larkin was expected to begin living up to his draft position.

He had improved off of his rookie season and even started 22 games, but it wasn’t yet guaranteed that he’d be able to stick around in the NBA long-term. His scoring totals were still relatively low despite the opportunities that he had received and his size was an obvious disadvantage defensively against the many talented point guards within the league.

Heading into this year, Larkin was expected to fight with fellow Nets free agent pickup Donald Sloan for the backup point guard spot. A mid-season injury to starting point guard Jarrett Jack changed all of that, however, and Larkin saw an increase in playing time because of it.

While he wound up actually starting less games than the year before, his performance on the court took a step forward. He shot a career-high 44% from the floor and 36% from three-point land and he showed a more pass-first mentality than ever.

This opportunity to play on a team that was going through a rebuild was an advantageous one for Larkin and he showed some of the potential that made him a first round pick just a couple of short years ago.

While he’s a bit limited by his size, his quickness has been able to help him transition, even though it isn’t quite as dominant as it was during his days at Miami. This quick first step allows him to get to the rim relatively regularly even though he’s undersized and the improved shooting is an added benefit that has helped him round out his offense arsenal. In addition to that, he showed great chemistry with Brook Lopez on the pick and roll, a major benefit moving forward.

Despite his improvement on the offensive end, he’s going to be limited on the defensive end regardless of the amount of skill that he may or may not have. He’s adept at getting steals because of his quickness, but he can be outmuscled by a multitude of players on the perimeter and can be taken out of plays through screens with relative ease.

It was certainly a career-year for Larkin and due to that, it may cause a team to bump up his asking price once free agency rolls around this summer. If they can bring him back as a backup at a reasonable price the Nets should consider it, but if it comes down to it they need to let a different team overpay for him.

His abilities on the offensive end this year were clear, but his defense anchors his grade down.