The Nets close out their season in evaluation mode
Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai should be in constant evaluation mode. Everyone who leads an NBA franchise from the top is making regular assessments of their organization. Losing teams, and those that do not make the playoffs and aren’t on the rise such as the Nets have many major decisions to make heading into the off-season.
The Nets were 31-48 ahead of yesterday’s home finale against the Toronto Raptors as the disappointing season will end without them having a playoff or even play-in spot; they are in 11th place in the 15-team Eastern Conference. They play their final game Sunday on the road versus the Philadelphia 76ers.
The futures of GM Sean Marks and interim head coach Kevin Ollie are uncertain. Tsai has to take a deep look at how he can move the franchise forward and if Marks and Ollie are the best options at their positions. Roster reconstruction and player development are priorities. Marks hasn’t shaped a consistent winner since becoming the Nets GM in February of 2016. Notably, the short-lived Kevin Durant-Kyrie Irving-James Harden experiment failed.
Ollie took over as the head coach when Jacque Vaughn was fired this past February and while Tsai has not spoken publicly on his intentions, it’s likely Ollie won’t be back—even if he hasn’t had enough time to prove himself. He was in his first year as an assistant with the Nets before moving up to interim head coach. Ollie had a record of 10-15 after Sunday’s embarrassing 107-77 loss to the Sacramento Kings at Barclays Center where the team trailed by as many as 33 points.
One of the few bright spots for the team this season has been 6-foot-3-inch guard Cam Thomas, who has led the Nets in scoring in seven consecutive games going into last night. He was averaging 22.2 points per game through Sunday. Thomas, drafted by the Nets in the first round in 2021 with the 27th overall pick out of LSU is just 22 years old.
Rookie Noah Clowney, a 6-9 forward taken with the 21st pick in last season’s NBA draft, had the best two games of his young career scoring a career-high 22 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a 115-111 win over the Indiana Pacers on April 3 followed by 17 points, 6 rebounds and 4 blocks as Brooklyn overcame a 19-point deficit to defeat the Detroit Pistons on Saturday, 113-103.
“Before I went in, coach (Ollie) said ‘protect the rim’ so I went and did just that,” Clowney shared after Saturday’s win. “As far as the offensive end, I think I got a few rebounds. I think I got a cut on one, some free throws, a three. I don’t really remember the exact (details), but just trying to play [and] get my shots up within the game. They were in the flow of the game, not forcing anything.”
Brooklyn closes out the season at Madison Square Garden versus the New York Knicks on Friday and against the 76ers in Philadelphia on Sunday.
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