Newly acquired guard Nik Stauskas hasn’t found a for sure home in the NBA. The Brooklyn Nets can offer him what other teams can’t: more playing time.
The Brooklyn Nets recently acquired Nik Stauskas in a deal that sent Trevor Booker to the Philadelphia 76ers. The Nets also welcome Jahlil Okafor and a 76ers 2019 second-round pick to their team.
With the Stauskas addition that meant the Nets had to cut ties with Sean Kilpatrick.
Stauskas was on his way to becoming an NBA journeyman but I believe he has found a home with Kenny Atkinson and company.
This season the 2014 first-round draft pick hasn’t had too much if any success with the 76ers.
The 24-year-old has played just six games and scored a total of four points in 45 minutes.
However, the Nets can offer Stauskas more playing time than his previous teams.
Brooklyn is second in bench minutes per game (21.8) and second in bench scoring per game (45.8) The 76ers are in the bottom five in the NBA for those categories.
Even though Stauskas may not have the body of an NBA player. He can shoot the basketball and Brooklyn likes to put points on the scoreboard. That’s a good match.
In Stauskas’ first three years in the league he played at least 73 games in each season. His main trait is shooting the deep ball.
Stauskas averaged 6.5 three-pointers in his first season (2015-16) with Philadelphia and made just over two a game.
However, last season was his highest statistical three-point campaign. In 80 games he shot 36.8 percent from beyond the arc and averaged 12.4 points per game.
The kid can score.
Brooklyn is ninth in three-pointers made this season. But the team’s three-point make percentage is one of the worst in the NBA. Stauskas can improve that.
Whether or not Atkinson starts him will be the question. In fact, if Atkinson has Stauskas come off the bench, their deeper rotation could become more dangerous.
The only part that is a tad bit concerning is that the NBA hasn’t seen a lot of Stauskas this season. He had two solid years in Philadelphia where he averaged over 10 points a game but will that production come back? No one knows.
Another shooter in Brooklyn’s pocket can never hurt so it’ll be interesting to see when and how much Stauskas gets used.
Brooklyn can’t call the season a bust just yet with being only 3.5 games out of eighth in the East.
The addition to Okafor and Stauskas is the shakeup the Nets needed and could be a wakeup call for other players moving forward.