Nets: 3 reasons Brooklyn clearly ranks as offseason ‘winner’
By Mike Luciano
The Brooklyn Nets might not have entered the 2021 NBA offseason with a ton of cap space to spend, but they still managed to come away with some of the best individual moves of the offseason as they try to make it to the NBA Finals on the strength of Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and James Harden’s scoring.
Sean Marks and Steve Nash saw that this team was starting to get a little long in the tooth, needed some quality off of the bench, and still had holes on the interior due to the lack of rim protection.
Even though players like Spencer Dinwiddie and Jeff Green had to bite the dust in order for Marks’ offseason plans to come to fruition, that hasn’t stopped them from making a flurry of new signings that have left Brooklyn in almost the exact same place as they were left last year.
The Nets have not only done well for themselves this offseason, but they could also be declared the “winners” of this offseason frenzy, as these three moves have set them up to be the favorites coming out of the Eastern Conference. Take a bow, Sean Marks.
Sean Marks on filling free agency needs: "I think we have addressed a lot of the needs. We won't address ALL of the needs until probably the trade deadline."
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) August 11, 2021
3 reasons the Brooklyn Nets won the offseason.
3. The Defense Got Much Better
The Nets could’ve lost Bruce Brown, who transformed from a seldom-used bench guard into one of the more versatile defenders in the game, but they ended up luring him back on a one-year deal. While Brown was the key piece, he wasn’t the only addition that Brooklyn made to improve on that end.
Brown coming back would’ve been enough to warrant consideration for the hypothetical offseason championship given how valuable he was to the Nets, but the additions of DeAndre’ Bembry and a veteran scrapper in Patty Mills show that Brooklyn is committed to fixing their deficiencies on defense.
Bruce Brown Jr. is signing a one-year, $4.7M deal to return to the Brooklyn Nets, per @wojespn pic.twitter.com/1nfH5SWtpR
— Bleacher Report NBA (@BR_NBA) August 3, 2021
The Brooklyn Nets should have a much better defense.
In addition to the players that were retained on the court, the Nets were able to make some defensive-minded additions to their coaching staff. David Vanterpool is a respected developer of guard talent at both positions, while Steve Clifford was added to the staff in a consultant position.
The Nets will no longer be a pushover on the defensive side of the ball, as the likes of Brown, Vanterpool, and Mills will ensure that while the Big 3 are doing their thing on the offensive end, Brooklyn will prevent other teams from coming back into the game in the fourth quarter.