3 Nets who have underperformed through first half of season

Wednesday night marked the final game before All-Star Weekend for the Brooklyn Nets, a break that this team has desperately needed for weeks.

From injuries to key players like Ben Simmons to simple sloppy on-court execution, this club has seemingly been in absolute shambles for the vast majority of the 2023-24 campaign, and their 21-33 record is a direct indicator of this.

Though technically not the mid-way point, All-Star weekend is generally viewed as the divider between the first and second half of a season and, when looking at Brooklyn's pre-break play, it's evident that there have been a myriad of individuals who have failed to live up to expectations.

Brooklyn Nets who have underperformed through first half of season

While teams win and lose as a collective, looking back on the first half of action for the Nets there have been a few particular individuals who have underperformed immensely.

3. Cam Johnson

This past summer, the Nets opted to re-sign Cam Johnson to a lucrative four-year, $94.5 million deal, signaling that they're not only committing to him financially but also as a core foundational piece moving forward.

When shelling out such a payday, the hope is generally that the recipient will produce as a top-billed performer and a major difference-maker within the rotation while en route to ample success.

In the case of Johnson, however, through 41 games played the 27-year-old has yet to tap into such a level of play and, in many ways, has proven himself to be more of a tertiary option within the system more than anything else.

To be clear, the forward is actually having quite a solid year for Brooklyn, as he's posting averages of 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.6 assists while shooting a team-high 40.0 percent from distance (of those who have logged 800 or more minutes thus far).

That said, the underwhelming part of his season has more to do with falling short of the expectations of taking on a number two role within the rotation.

Now, as things currently stand, he falls behind the likes of the 1A Mikal Bridges (16.9) and 1B Cam Thomas (17.3) quite considerably in the shot attempts department (Johnson gets just 11.1) and leads the offensively limited Nic Claxton by an average of just 1.5 points.

With an average salary of $23.6 million, Johnson seems to be serving more as an overpriced role player rather than a key building block for what was supposed to be a young and competitive Nets team in 2023-24.

Hopefully he can have a stronger showing post All-Star break than he has had leading up to the illustrious festivities.