The Brooklyn Nets couldn’t resist the opportunity to pair James Harden with the likes of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, thereby forming one of the most lethal combinations of offensive talent the game has ever seen. However, doing so meant that a very deep Nets team built on player development had to trade away some young stars like Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen.
While Durant was enticed to come to Brooklyn because of their organizational foundation, the Nets were a genuinely impressive team without him and Irving, as the likes of LeVert, D’Angelo Russell and more helped them make the playoffs in 2018-19 as the No. 6 seed. Unfortunately, to add the superstars, a lot of those Nets had to be jettisoned.
Instead of some of Kenny Atkinson’s boys, Steve Nash has opted to play new acquisitions like DeAndre Jordan and Landry Shamet to support their star trio. The results have been…mixed, as evidenced by a recent loss to the lowly Detroit Pistons.
Brooklyn shouldn’t have been so quick to totally disregard their past success, as these three former Nets could help the current squad.
These 3 former Brooklyn Nets could provide some depth.
No. 3: DeMarre Carroll
Carroll’s value was at an all-time low when he arrived in Brooklyn, as he was regarded as a free agent flop in Toronto after some success on Mike Budenholzer’s turn of the decade Hawks teams. Carroll, who earned the nickname “Junkyard Dog” due to his feisty defensive play, had some of the best years of his career on both sides of the floor.
Carroll averaged a career-high 13.5 points per game during his first year in Brooklyn, all the while matching up against opposing power forwards and shooting guards with an equal amount of aplomb. While his scoring dipped next year, Carroll was a defensive linchpin on a Nets team that wasn’t exactly the Bad Boy Pistons.
DeMarre Carroll gave the Nets some toughness.
Right now, it’s clear that the Nets are lacking a veteran who can rally the troops when they get punched in the mouth and help do the dirty work down low. Jeff Green tries to help out, but he’s just one man. Carroll would give this finesse Nets team a rough edge that they need in order to improve on the defensive end.
Carroll was shipped to San Antonio, and he had a brief run with Houston last season, but his best chance to re-enter the NBA could be back at his old stomping ground in Brooklyn. Even if Nash just wants someone to play ferocious defense and be a vocal leader, Carroll can check both of those boxes.
No. 2: Ed Davis
Davis, on his seventh NBA team in his 10-year career, is currently plodding along for the Minnesota Timberwolves, averaging just 2.3 points per game. While he was never a great scorer, and he is starting to get up there in age a bit, Nets fans can’t like seeing him play like this, as the former UNC star quickly became a fan favorite in his sole season with the Nets.
Davis, who was acquired after leaving Portland in 2018, averaged 8.6 rebounds, still by far the best mark of his career, in just 17.9 minutes per game with Brooklyn. Per 36 minutes, that works out to 17.3 boards. Davis wasn’t tasked with much on the offensive end, but he finished 61 percent of his shots. He was an invaluable asset in the development of a young Allen.
Ed Davis would give the Nets size, effort, and rebounding.
Jordan is a shell of the former All-Star we saw with the Clippers, and the lack of a true center behind him following the Harden trade has left the Nets bereft of a solid defensive rebounder and lacking in players that can finish close looks on the interior. Davis’ entire game is based around those two traits.
Davis, who could be on the move as Minnesota suffers through another uneventful season, should be on Sean Marks’ radar, as he had a brief stint as one of the best rebounders in the league. He wouldn’t totally fix the issues caused by Brooklyn’s lack of size, but he would certainly help rectify them.
No. 1: Rondae Hollis-Jefferson
Hollis-Jefferson ended up in Brooklyn after the Mason Plumlee trade, and he spent the first five years of his career in black and white. While he never became the true two-way superstar that the Nets were hoping he would be, the former Arizona star proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that he has a role in the NBA.
While his defense and finishing near the rim make for a player profile that is becoming increasingly more valuable, RHJ is currently unemployed. After one year with the Toronto Raptors in 2019-20, Jefferson was let go by Minnesota after he failed to crack Ryan Saunders’ Timberwolves rotation.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson’s versatility could help the Nets.
Hollis-Jefferson has the length, size, and motor to bang down low on defense, especially when the Nets go small. While not a tremendous offensive player, he’s more than capable of knocking down an open midrange shot if given the chance.
The ex-Net is a very limited player on the offensive side of the ball. However, it just so happens that the Nets have three of the 10 best offensive players in the league on their team right now to carry that burden. Hollis-Jefferson coming back not only would help the Nets in the immediate future, but it would show that Marks hasn’t totally discarded that era.