The Brooklyn Nets are currently gearing up for the playoffs while they wait for an update on point guard Kyrie Irving’s status after he took a booming elbow to the face from Chicago Bulls big man Nicola Vucevic on Tuesday.
Only one game separates the Nets from the postseason, and they, assuming they maintain the No. 2 seed in the East, will have the luxury of locking horns against a team that just participated in the physically taxing play-in tournament.
Not only will Brooklyn have the talent advantage over whomever they start off with, but they’ll also be coming into that first round series after a week of rest, which is massive considering how many injuries this team has dealt with this season.
In other words, the first-round matchup should be a cakewalk for the Nets, meaning they could get away with rolling with a deep rotation in potentially lopsided games. However, the same cannot be said beyond the inaugural round.
In fact, some players on Brooklyn’s roster might lose their spot in the playoff rotation on a permanent basis once things get more competitive. So, which players should head coach Steve Nash and Co. pull the plug on come playoff time?
These three Nets players should be axed from the playoff rotation.
3. Mike James
This one’s tough, but the Nets can only deploy so many guards in a must-win scenario.
For as smooth as Mike James has been running the offense off the bench, we’re just not sure how he gets playing time with the likes of Kyrie Irving, James Harden, Joe Harris, Bruce Brown and Landry Shamet ahead of him in the backcourt pecking order.
What James lacks in 3-point marksmanship, he more than makes up for with his dazzling handles and uncanny ability to get to the rim despite being undersized. Therein lies the problem: the Nets already have too many players in their backcourt who are dynamic with the ball.
Mike James might become an afterthought the Nets’ rotation once the postseason comes around.
The importance of having a proven ball-handler/playmaker coming off the bench in the playoffs cannot be understated, but James is likely to be the odd man out in the rotation with Irving, Harden and Durant projected to have the ball in their hands most of the time.
Unlike the regular reason, the Nets will also have to emphasize defense come playoff time, and James simply doesn’t offer much at that end of the floor. While Harris and Shamet are no great shakes in one-on-one situations, their ability to spread the court as shooters means they’re a virtual lock to log significant minutes.
With Brown capable of defending multiple positions, being an underrated rebounder and contributing 8.7 points per game on 55.1% shooting, James, for as much as he deserved to have his contract extended until the end of the season, likely won’t have a role in the playoffs.
2. Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot
The decline of Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot has been one of the most disheartening and puzzling developments in what has been an otherwise fantastic season for the Nets.
After coming up huge for Brooklyn in the bubble last year, Luwawu-Cabarrot has become unplayable in 2021. Over 12 games in Disney, the 26-year-old averaged 15.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, including shooting 43.4% shooting from the floor, 40.3% on threes, and an equally impressive 90.3% from the foul line.
That performance indicated Luwawu-Cabarrot had finally turned the corner in his NBA career. However, he’s unfortunately reverted back to the ineffective, end-of-the-rotation player he was for three seasons before he erupted in the bubble.
Timothé Luwawu-Cabarrot has played himself out of the Nets’ playoff rotation.
Across 56 games, the France native has tallied 6.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 assists while shooting a paltry 36% from the floor and 31.1% from behind the arc.
If those numbers don’t prove he deserves to be axed from the playoff rotation, then nothing does, and his limited role over the last 10 games — in which he’s averaged just 10.3 (!) minutes — suggests the Nets have zero intention of playing him in the postseason.
Though it looked like Brooklyn found lightning in a bottle with Luwawu-Cabarrot after the NBA resumed play following a multi-month pause last season, his underwhelming performance this campaign is right on par with the numbers he’s posted throughout his career.
Assuming Luwawu-Cabarrot doesn’t rediscover his bubble form overnight, the former first-round pick shouldn’t see the floor in the playoffs unless the Nets are absolutely mopping the floor with one of their opponents.
1. DeAndre Jordan
If everything goes according to plan, the Nets’ frontcourt playoff rotation will feature the likes of Kevin Durant, Jeff Green, Blake Griffin, and Nicolas Claxton.
While that group doesn’t boast tremendous size, each of them are capable of defending multiple positions, which means Brooklyn should be able to get away with playing small most of the time.
We would personally endorse Alize Johnson getting some minutes, but that’s likely a pipe dream given his lack of experience. Whatever ends up happening, however, the DeAndre Jordan experiment must come to an end come playoff time.
The Nets cannot afford to play DeAndre Jordan in the playoffs.
The only times Jordan should see the floor is in a blowout or if some of the Nets’ other bigs are in foul trouble. It’s worth noting he did a solid job defending Joel Embiid earlier in the season, so perhaps he’s utilized as a defensive specialist in a potential matchup vs Philly … but we wouldn’t hold our breath on that coming to fruition.
The bottom line is Jordan has been detrimental to Brooklyn’s success all season. In 57 games (all starts), he’s averaging 7.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.1 blocks. He also has a plus-minus of -42 for the year, which is laughable when you consider who he’s been sharing the floor with.
At this point in his career, Jordan, though he comes up with a big block on occasion, is rarely effective on defense and bird watches on rebounding opportunities. Because of that, coupled with the Nets’ viable front court depth, Jordan should be firmly axed from the playoff rotation.
Brooklyn Nets: Worst-case play-in tournament scenario for BK
Of the four teams the Brooklyn Nets could theoretically play in the play-in, the Boston Celtics should be the squad that the Nets fear the most.