Nets: Playing a game of ‘Bubble: Keep or Drop’ with BK guards

Chris Chiozza: KEEP, TWO-WAY CONTRACT (if possible)

Chris Chiozza is what Theo Pinson should have been.

In his two years with the team, Pinson was one of the least efficient players in the NBA. Among qualified players, Jordan Poole finished last in the NBA with a True Shooting Percentage of 45.4%. Pinson checked in at a clean 37%. Among players with over 300 minutes, only Dennis Smith Jr. finished with a worse Win Shares per 48 rate than Pinson (LOL Knicks).

On top of all this, Pinson isn’t even a natural point guard; he was an off-ball guard who happened to have decent assist numbers his senior year. But following injuries to both Kyrie Irving and Caris LeVert in November, Pinson was pressed into lead guard duties behind Spencer Dinwiddie.

Chiozza clears this low bar: he is a natural lead guard! Though his turnover frequency has been concerningly high (18.7%), a near-30% assist percentage is encouraging. A 54.8% True Shooting Percentage, higher than Dinwiddie’s, LeVert’s, and certainly Pinson’s, has been buoyed by strong three-point shooting.

I mean, he can hit a three from anywhere: 

Ideally, Chiozza isn’t playing serious minutes either. But on another two-way contract, “Cheese” will continue to get minutes for the Long Island Nets while being able to provide lead guard minutes if the varsity squad needs him. These are the exact type of players Sean Marks should be rounding out his roster with.

***Of course, this is assuming another club doesn’t swoop in with a guaranteed contract. The Nets should match that.