Brooklyn Nets 2018-19 season roundup, awards

Most Valuable Player: D’Angelo Russell

Prior to the season, the narrative was that this would be the make or break year for D’Angelo Russell. The former second overall pick had shown flashes of star potential in his first three seasons but hadn’t shown the consistency to a top-tier player.

With the Nets set to have an abundance of cap space, Russell needed to make the jump to a star player to prove he is the point guard Brooklyn could build around long term. The fourth-year guard did just that, improving in all aspects of his game and earning his first All-Star selection.

The fourth-year guard had the most efficient scoring season of his career, averaging 21.1 points per game on shooting splits of 43.4/36.9/78.0, all career-highs.

Russell struggled to take care of the ball down the stretch during his first season with the Nets. The point guard has great court vision, but that ability would often lead him to attempt tough passes that had a small margin for error, leading to turnovers.

This led to a lack of trust from Atkinson and Russell landing on the bench late in games.

This season, Russell commanded the floor with intelligence and poise in big moments. He picked his spots, trusting Atkinson’s offense to create opportunities for him to find his teammates. Russell averaged a career-high 7.0 assists per game this season.

Russell shined in Brooklyn’s pick-and-roll oriented offense using his superb court vision, mid-range game and an improved pull-up 3-point shot. The point guard initiated the second-most pick-and-rolls in the league this season, trailing only Kemba Walker.

Russell’s passing ability was on full display in pick-and-roll sets.

He constantly found the open man when operating off of high-ball screens, whether it was a darting pass across the lane to Joe Harris for 3 or a crafty bounce pass to a rolling big man after forcing the opposing center to respect his high-arching floater.

An improved pull-up 3 served as a deadly weapon off high ball screens. Russell attempted the fifth-most pull-up 3s in the league at 5.4 per game, converting on 36 percent of those attempts. Russell took 47 percent of his 3s unassisted this year, an 11.4 percent increase from last season.

Russell also improved getting downhill to the basket as the season progressed. He consistently probed in the mid-range off the pick-and-roll, improving his floater which was often set up by a crafty ball fake to freeze the opposing center.

Russell also improved beating defenders in isolation using a variety of hesitation moves and finishing strong toward the basket.

While he got downhill more frequently this season, Russell did not get to the free throw line nearly enough, attempting just 2.4 free throws per game. If Russell wants to make another jump next season, getting to the line will be key.

Despite Russell’s breakout season, he is not a lock to be back in Brooklyn next season. The All-Star will hit restricted free agency and there have been rumblings about Kyrie Irving’s interest in the Nets.

It remains to be seen whether Brooklyn will be willing to pay him the max contract he may demand, but the 23-year-old’s play this season gave general manager Sean Marks a lot to think about.