Brooklyn Nets grades: Injury slows Dzanan Musa’s development a bit
By Phil Watson
Musa with Brooklyn
As detailed above, Dzanan Musa was only with the Brooklyn Nets for 23 of their 82 games and saw playing time in just nine of those contests, all in mop-up situations.
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The rest of his season, save for the time missed with the shoulder injury, was spent in Uniondale with the G League’s Long Island Nets.
In his limited opportunities — nine games and 39 minutes — with Brooklyn, Musa wasn’t shy about looking to score, taking 22 shots (an average of 20.3 attempts per 36 minutes and, yes, insert the small-sample-size alarm somewhere around right here).
He was just 1-for-10 from 3-point range, something that is a work in progress as Musa adjusts to the NBA style of play as well as its longer 3-point arc. He was 9-for-22 overall, 40.9 percent, as he hit a very efficient 8-of-12 inside the arc, going 4-for-5 at the rim and 3-for-4 from three to 10 feet.
His mid-range shots were few — just three — and not overly successful, with one made.
In two playoff appearances totaling 15 minutes, Musa scored four points on 2-of-3 shooting, missing his lone 3-point attempt, and had two steals to go with three turnovers.
Valuing the ball is still an area where Musa needs some work — he had four turnovers in 39 regular-season minutes, as well.
Best Game: April 10 vs. Miami
Musa never played more than eight minutes in an NBA game as a rookie, but his best performance came in one of his shorter stints.
He logged five minutes at the end of Brooklyn’s blowout win over the Miami Heat at Barclays Center to close out the regular season.
In the video clip above, Musa takes a feed from Shabazz Napier and confidently steps into a deep 3-point attempts with the shot clock winding down inside of 10.
It was the only made 3 Musa had at the NBA level, but it was also a shot on which he looked comfortable and confident, which was not always the case earlier in the season before he got a chance to log more than 1,100 minutes of playing time in the G League.
Musa also had a rebound and an assist and was turnover-free in his short stint against the Heat, finishing a season-best plus-6 in Box Score Plus/Minus.
Musa with Long Island
Despite his shoulder injury, Musa played in 36 of Long Island’s 50 regular-season games and put up solid numbers overall. He averaged 19.5 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.6 assists in 31.6 minutes per game, shooting 43.9 percent overall and hitting 35.7 percent on 6.4 3-point tries a game.
But despite not spending a lot of time as the Nets’ primary ball-handler, Musa also averaged 2.9 turnovers per game — a high number for a player primarily playing at the wing spots.
His length will serve him well once he adds some bulk, because Musa has an explosive first step that often surprised G League defenders as well as NBA players attempting to guard him.
But Musa still has a ways to go.
In the playoffs, Musa logged heavy minutes, averaging 37.5 in the five postseason games for Long Island.
He averaged 19.6 points and 4.8 rebounds, but shot just 38.8 percent overall and only 25 percent on eight 3-point attempts a game (10-for-40 overall).
Perhaps more concerning was the dip in assists, but his turnover rate was also down in the postseason to just 1.8 per game.