The issues facing the Brooklyn Nets on the defensive end and at the center position were laid bare on Sunday night as they lost 146-149 to the Washington Wizards, a triple overtime score that happened in regulation.
Wednesday 3 February 2021 13:34, UK
It was not too long ago that the center was unofficially rendered extinct in the NBA, an unfortunate consequence of the Golden State Warriors' small-ball meteor that crash-landed on Earth, won three championships and recorded a 73-win season, all without a true starting five.
Thankfully it appears the species has not in fact died out, with Nikola Jokic and Joel Embiid leading the early season MVP race and generally playing as though they're in a pick-up game at a primary school.
The NBA is awash with more talent than ever - you cannot get by in this league without a broad skillset, regardless of your size. That's what has led to Embiid and Jokic, two man-mountains who can handle, shoot and pass like guards, battling it out to become the first center to be named MVP since Shaquille O'Neal over 20 years ago.
Which brings us neatly to the Brooklyn Nets who, after trading for James Harden in mid-January, find themselves with Shaq-sized problems regarding their own big man situation. That their starting center is DeAndre Jordan is problem one. That their small ball center is Jeff Green is another. That defensive communication and effort across the entire team is lacking is problem number three, and only exacerbates the other two.
Whatever the star power of their Big Three, they are not going to compete for a title with issues of this magnitude plaguing their roster. Sunday night's 146-149 defeat to the Wizards, a triple overtime score that happened in regulation, laid that bare.
After the game Kyrie Irving admitted: "I couldn't guard a stick." No team allowing 48 points in the fourth quarter is a genuine contender. It remains a universal truth that defense wins championships.
Sadly, Jordan just is not the rim-running lob-catching behemoth he was in his Clippers days playing alongside Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. More importantly, he is not the defensive anchor either. In fact, he has not been for a while, despite decent-looking averages at the Mavericks and Knicks after leaving Los Angeles in free agency.
He is averaging 20 minutes per game in new head coach Steve Nash's rotation, a career low since he became a regular starter in 2010, along with putting up seven points and seven rebounds - his worst output since his first two seasons in the league.
Nash does not trust Jordan to play proper starter's minutes because, due to his declining athleticism, he cannot defend the pick and roll properly, which often makes him the target for opposing offensive schemes.
So far this season the Nets are 4.1 points per 100 possessions worse with Jordan on the floor than off it and the drop coverage they are having to implement because of his regression, which means Jordan retreating to the basket rather than applying pressure to the ball-handler out of the screen, is causing more problems than it solves. In the playoffs he will get torched.
Jordan was signed by the Nets in the summer of 2019 on a four-year $40m deal in part due to his close relationship with both Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, having bonded while playing for Team USA during the 2016 Olympics.
Originally, the contract seemed palatable and served two key purposes: to keep the Nets' superstars happy and add much-needed depth at the center position.
At this juncture, it represents a massive overpay for a player well past his best and a sticking point in their cap flexibility as they look to retool their squad depth around Durant, Irving and Harden.
The optics of Jordan's deal are made worse by the performances of Jarrett Allen this season, who the Nets were forced to trade to the Cleveland Cavaliers along with Taurean Prince in order to attain Harden.
Allen was earning just a quarter of Jordan's salary and had even replaced him in the starting line up after a blistering run of performances that included 19 points and 18 rebounds against the Utah Jazz at the beginning of January.
While their per 36 numbers for Brooklyn are not miles apart (Allen's are still definitely better), he brought far more energy to the floor and posed more of a lob threat than the creaking Jordan, which was essential to opening things up for Irving and Durant off the dribble.
The only downside of Allen's production given his bargain contract (just $2.5m per year) was the fact the San Diego native was due to hit restricted free agency this summer, meaning the Nets would have likely been forced to match a mammoth contract extension offered to the 22-year-old from another team, or lose him for nothing.
In that sense, the trade was a necessity given the cap situation the Nets now find themselves in with Harden on the books. It does, however, mean they need to find budget solutions to an increasingly costly problem. Allen was the kind of consistent, selfless role player that every championship winner needs and on a team-friendly contract to boot.
Jordan is their Achilles heel waiting for a poison arrow to come in the post-season.
The Nets have already made some tentative moves to address this glaring weakness. Free agent wing Iman Shumpert and center Norvel Pelle have been signed but while both, at least on paper, should help plaster over the cracks as defensive specialists, Shumpert has not played NBA basketball in over a year and Pelle is essentially a G League shot blocker who did not earn more than limited minutes for the 76ers.
Nic Claxton, a late second-round draft pick in 2019 and the Nets only other center, is still out after having arthroscopic surgery on his left shoulder last season. With no open roster spots, the Nets would have to waive a player should they choose to continue to explore the free-agent market.
It seems more likely that they will wait to pick up a quality buyout from another team - whether Andre Drummond, PJ Tucker, Trevor Ariza or Robin Lopez - although there is no guarantee that any of those players do become available.
For now, it appears that their effort and intensity need to improve across the board, an example that should be set first by Durant, Irving and Harden and emphasised over and over again by Nash on the sideline.
The Nets will put up a ridiculous number of points against most teams in the league, but stopping the flood at the other end will be the decisive factor in whether they can convert their NBA 2K fantasy turned reality into actual championship success.
