Analyzing How Terrance Ferguson Would Fit on Brooklyn Nets
By Charles Daye
Terrance Ferguson is one of the many coveted international prospects available in this year’s NBA Draft. Some mock drafts have the Brooklyn Nets selecting the young swingman.
Terrance Ferguson is an 18-year-old shooting guard for the Adelaide 36ers in Australia’s National Basketball League. He stands at 6-foot-7 with a 6-foot-9 wingspan and averaged 4.6 points in 15.1 minutes over 30 games.
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According to DraftExpress, his strengths include his explosiveness, his size, catch-and-shoot ability and defensive potential. While Ferguson has shown flashes on offense, his highlighted weaknesses include streaky shooting, creating offense, strength and his basketball IQ/feel for the game.
When analyzing the potential draft prospects of the Nets, Bleacher Report had the Nets selecting Ferguson with their first first-round draft pick. This was the analysis given then:
"“We know Marks is scouting the Euroleague and international talent, but it seems kind of hard to believe in this deep of a draft, they would select Ferguson (no disrespect) with their first pick.”"
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Well, since the time of that writing, General Manager Sean Marks has stated otherwise regarding the possibility of the Nets selecting a Euro-stash. During the Nets’ end-of-season press conference, when asked about drafting a young international player and the possibility of stashing said pick or starting them in the D-League, Marks replied:
"“I think it will be circumstantial. It will depend on the player, it will depend where we are at with our roster. I really like what has happened in Long Island with the Nets. They’re developing the culture, they’re developing the a rhythm and a routine of things that are very similar to what Kenny and his staff are doing up here.”"
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Marks repeated he has “absolutely no problem” with a potential draft pick starting in the D-League. If there is no hesitation in selecting a first-round pick who will begin in the D-League, then Ferguson becomes just as much of a possibility as any other international talent with rumored connection to Brooklyn.
The Nets are interested in versatile prospects with high character and a lot of potential. Ferguson will only be 19 years old in his rookie season in the NBA, so there is at least three years of potential growth before deciding on what his ceiling could possibly be.
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Ferguson could hypothetically fit within the Nets’ current system, and starting in Long Island could be a great way get him acclimated to the NBA. Imagine a lineup consisting of Jeremy Lin, Ferguson, Caris LeVert, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brook Lopez running Atkinson’s fast-paced three-point oriented system.
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EDIT 4/21/17 9:32 a.m. ET
An earlier version of this article described Ferguson as an Australian swingman. Ferguson is American, only spending a year overseas in Australia.