After some inconsistent minutes to start the season, Brooklyn Nets head coach Steve Nash finally put Bruce Brown back in the rotation. With his defensive versatility and solid efforts on the offensive end, the former Pistons second-rounder emerged as a reliable bench player who could fill a variety of roles.
But with Kyrie Irving taking his self-imposed leave of absence, Brown needed to up his efforts on offense. Instead, after getting a nice new contract in the offseason, Brown is taking a step back in that department despite all of the shots that have been vacated.
Brown’s scoring has fallen from 8.8 points per game last year to just 6.5 this year. His rebounds and assists have also suffered, as he went from averaging 5.4 boards and 1.6 dimes per contest to 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game. His defense has been OK, but nowhere near as impactful.
The Nets’ rotation is already being tested for a multitude of reasons. If Brown continues to play like this, Nash may have to drastically change the lineup’s status quo.
Bruce Brown not finding the same level of accuracy with his floater this year has been tough.
— Matt Brooks (@MattBrooksNBA) December 4, 2021
Bruce Brown isn’t helping the Brooklyn Nets on offense.
Per Cleaning the Glass (subscription required), the Nets are getting outscored 15.5 points per 100 possessions when Brown is on the floor. This puts him in the seventh percentile across the NBA. The only player on the Nets that grades out worse than Brown is Cam Thomas, who is a rookie with under 200 NBA minutes.
The Nets are also scoring 11.1 fewer points per 100 with Brown on the court, as his floater accuracy has wavered. What’s frightening is the fact that Thomas is the only one who’s playing worse defense than Brown right now, If the defense is faltering, Brown’s value plummets down the drain.
Jumping in & out of watching, but the Nets need to stop screening with Bruce Brown so often.
— Billy Reinhardt (@BillyReinhardt) December 9, 2021
Teams don’t respect Brown & he isn’t connecting on close range shots at an efficient rate. It just takes the ball out of James Harden’s hands.
Not the way to have Harden be a scorer.
Unfortunately, the Nets might not have a replacement lined up for Brown. Thomas is a terrible defender right now and Jevon Carter might be even worse on offense. DeAndre’ Bembry may benefit from Brown’s struggles, but he lacks the same dynamic ability as a ball-handler and passer that Brown has shown in the last few years.
As tough as it may sound, Brooklyn needs to keep throwing Brown out there until he figures out what’s wrong on both ends. When the Nets started to wilt last year, Brown put together some tremendous performances to keep the team afloat. In a competitive east, the Nets need that player to reemerge.
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