30 Team Nets: What is the purpose of choosing 5 first-round picks in a row? Is it really so unbearable?

The protagonist of the 7th episode of the 30 Days 30 Team Series, let’s talk about the Brooklyn Nets. Before the start of last season, almost everyone regarded the Nets as the last strong contender in the league. However, under the leadership of the new coach, the team made a very amazing start. In the end, relying on constantly sending away high-quality players in the team, they barely completed the "bad" plan. However, because of the "higher" ranking, the signing position was not high. But what is even more surprising is that in the draft, the Nets did not explore some trades in the five first rounds, but won five first round picks in one go, resulting in as many as 21 players in the team, which is full of the upper limit for entering the training camp. Such draft operations have also been criticized a lot, but is it really so unbearable in fact? Today's article will share in detail with you:

1. Last season review

The Nets finally won 26 last season, but fans generally believe that "win too much and have a big impact", which also reflects the outstanding performance of the new head coach, especially on the defensive end, the ability to cause opponents to make mistakes is ranked 7th in the league, and is excellent in aggressiveness while also controlling fouls well. The opponent's free throw rate is the 8th lowest in the league, which reflects the sufficient vitality of Nets players. However, the team's point guard Schroder was sent away early and Thomas was quickly reimbursed, which led to a long-term vacuum in the point guard position, and the increase in the offensive error rate was inevitable. Fanny Smith's departure also reduced the team's defensive talent. Once the mistakes were not caused, the opponent's effective shooting rate would be very high.

The data in the above table can clearly reflect the Nets' game style. They are teams that pay great attention to magic ballization. The output of the box + three-pointers ranks fifth in the league, and the output of the three-pointers ranks third in the league. It should be noted that the Nets' large open three-point production is only ranked 20th in the league, which shows that the team has made a lot of interference with the next three-pointer, which shows that the coaching staff's firm demand for decisive three-pointers.

On the defensive end, the Nets devote their main energy to limiting the ball-holders, which will give the ball-holders a very large confrontation. The opponents face them with the lowest ball-holding output and the fifth lowest efficiency in the league. But at the same time, the Nets' defense against the off-ball is much inferior. In addition, the team's center is small, which causes the opponent to frequently attack the Nets' penalty area through a large number of empty cuts and other off-ball methods. This is the price of an aggressive defensive style.

In addition, Nets players are very fast on both offense and defense, especially the movement speed of the defensive end ranks fourth in the league, playing the defensive vitality that a small ball lineup should have. There are also a large number of passes and running positions on the offensive end, which reflects the excellent discipline of the coaching staff and the correct attitude of the players. Although the goal is to show bad luck, the spirit is not bad at all. Such an environment is very friendly to cultivating rookies.

2. Offseason operation

As a team in the early stage of reconstruction, the Nets adopted the operation of "using salary space to eat contracts and earning future assets" during the offseason. The most important deal is naturally to exchange Huang Zhong for the unprotected first-round pick of Porter + Nuggets in 2032. The expected value of this far-term first-round is very high. In addition, they also exchanged a 22nd pick in the first round by taking Mann's contract, and did a good job of using salary to exchange draft picks.

But the next incident triggered an explosion of public opinion - he selected five first-round rookies in one go, and except for Deming, who ranked 8th, the other four first-round picks were all around 20 and the value was not high. Almost everyone thinks that the Nets should pack upward trading in the first round of the first round or use the first round of this season to exchange for the first round of the future. It is really hard to choose 5 operations that you train yourself in one go. Especially among these 5 rookies, there are 4 of them who have different positions and heights, but they mainly play ball-type in college, and it is very difficult to give one ball to four people. This has even been reflected in the summer league. In order to take care of every rookie's training and holding the ball, Xia Lian coach even adopted a rotation approach, and the issue of ball rights allocation will only be more difficult to deal with in the regular season.

However, after sorting out the current lineup structure of the Nets, I understand the Nets' draft operation a little. First of all, with Schroeder and Russell leaving the team one after another, and Thomas' contract was unresolved (eventually becoming a one-year qualification, it is difficult to become the future of the Nets), there is no player in the team's No. 1 position, and it is reasonable to win two point guards, Deming and Traore, through the draft, and Buffkin's outstanding three-point ability in the G League also has the possibility of tapping potential for the second draft.

Secondly, the strongest players of the Nets are Porter, Thomas, Clarkston and Sharp. Among them, except Thomas, the remaining three need high-quality passers to feed them. Thomas is a player who only works alone and rarely shares the ball. If they want to form a whole, they need the assistance of a guard who is good at passing. The four ball holders selected by the Nets this time have highlights in passing.

The above table is the average of the high-level offensive data for each position in the 25 seasons I counted. It can be clearly seen that the point guard position is the position with the most offensive influence among the 6 positions in the court, and the gap with other positions is very large. This shows that an excellent point guard is essential for a team to do a good offense, so the Nets choose to practice Gu in the point guard position. If they can really develop a point guard who "can play excellent offensive influence", it will be much more cost-effective than other positions.

Finally, judging from the game style of the new Nets coach last season, he emphasized the idea of ​​sharing the ball and firmly shooting when it comes to a good three-pointer. This style of play requires the help of a guard who is good at passing the ball, so Schroder and Russell once played highlights at the Nets.. It can be said that this style of play is very suitable for training guards who are good at organizing, so there is no problem in choosing a ball holder who is good at passing. The problem is just whether there are too many players who choose 4 ball holders at a time... Next, we will look at the specific characteristics of a total of 5 first-round picks through the university and Xia Lian data:

3. The characteristics of the Nets' new 5 rookies

1. Deming's biggest selling point in the NBA is the "high and large point guard". He is 2.04 meters tall and is the best passer among this rookies, ranking first in the number of assists per 40 minutes in this rookies. With excellent vision and passing techniques, he can always find open teammates, which is very consistent with the Nets' style of bold shooting when they have available, but behind the high assist rate is the high turnover rate caused by a large number of risky passes, and the number of mistakes ranks third in this year's rookie.

In the context of real passing ability, Deming's height will depend on his offensive threat. After all, being able to frequently change the opponent's defense can create a large number of high-quality opportunities for his teammates. Deming's three-point output was very high in college, and 50% of all shots were outside the three-point line, but given that his free throw shooting percentage was only 69.5%, the instability of three-pointers was natural. NCAA's 27.3% three-point shooting percentage may be underestimated, but Summer United's 62.4% shooting percentage also has a large overestimation component. What level can his three-point ability reach after reaching the NBA determine his strength level. After all, there is a world of difference between Gidi and Doncic.

On the defensive end, Deming can rely on his high-ball maker to participate in many assisted defense work, and has excellent small data such as stealing rebounds, but there is also the problem that it is easy for the defender to pass easily. The problem of insufficient confrontation ability will also affect his stability on both offense and defense. However, the latest physical test data shows that Deming has lost a lot of meat in the offseason. Whether he can quickly adapt to the intensity of the game in the new season is a key point worth observing~

2. Danny Wolf

Wolf is a No. 4 ball holder, which reminds people of Randall who shined last season. His passing and control level can indeed meet the standard of defenders. As an inside line, he can rank 14th in rookies this year and lead a bunch of defenders.

But in addition to the advantages of passing and controlling, Wolf's scoring ability on the offensive end is not very stable. He shot more at the basket in NCAA but his shooting percentage is not high. His three-point shooting ability is also at the mid- and late stages among this rookie. Fortunately, he is more like a forward on the defensive end than an inside line. He has excellent elasticity and fast movement speed, and is full of vitality on the defensive end. Last season, the Nets also had a ball-holding inside Watford, and Wolf's usage is expected to be similar.

3.Salav& Traore

Salav and Traore both play in Europe and have no NCAA data, so we mainly refer to their summer league performance. From the above table, we can see that the two players have very low three-point shooting tendencies, which shows that the shooting is a part of their very unconfident. At the same time, the assist numbers of both of them are relatively excellent in Xialian environment, and the high level of transmission and control is indeed true, and the advantages and disadvantages are very distinct. The main observation of these two players is "what can they do on the ball". The Nets currently transfer the ball very quickly. If they can reflect their abilities on the ball, they can get more playing time.

4. Powell

Compared with the above four players who are good at holding and passing balls, Powell is a typical supporting role style. From the above table, it can be seen that his tendency to make three-pointers is not low, but his free throw shooting percentage of 64.8% seems to indicate that it is difficult for him to become a qualified shooter. His participation on the offensive end ranks at the bottom of this rookie, and his offensive end is of little contribution, except for the fixed-point three-pointer.

On the defensive end, Powell has good physical talent and good man-tapping elasticity. He can match both the outside and the front line, and has excellent potential for defending people on the outside. But university data shows that his small defense data is not good enough, and the coordination end still needs to learn a lot. How to convert physical talent into excellent defensive influence is a long-term topic next season or even a long-term issue.

In general, although there are too many choices at a time, the characteristics of these rookies are consistent with the Nets' game style last season. Next, it depends on who can finally stand out in the era of the rookie training. And there is another advantage that there will be more smooth play next season, and getting a "good ranking" is more likely to get a good sign. After all, next season will still be the year of the draft~~

Finally, the general ratings and relatively outstanding advantages or disadvantages of Nets players based on the high-level data of last season's players and the list of outstanding advantages or disadvantages for your reference. The model predicts that the Nets' final record is 23 wins and 59 losses and 14th place in the Eastern Conference. I hope that the Nets can select or train the cornerstone players as soon as possible and enter the next stage. I also wish Zeng Fanbo's journey to the Nets all the best~~