Whatever incremental improvements the Nets have made, they’ve been made without touching the league’s biggest cache of assets.
What will determine when GM Sean Marks finally cashes some of them in?
How quickly their young players develop, and what star becomes available.
“Internally, it’s going to be on how the [young Nets] develop, right?” Marks said. “Whether it’s Egor [Dëmin], whether it’s Nolan [Traore] … it runs the gamut, across the whole lot of them. Who can take that next step? And we’ll get a good feel for, ‘OK, he’s playing above where expectations were,’ or, ‘He’s developed earlier than we may have thought.’ But it’s also a combination of what becomes available.
“So you keep your flexibility. … We’re always listening. I’m not sure we’re going to be any more active than we’ve been in the past, but it doesn’t mean we’re not listening. It doesn’t mean we’re not shaking trees and seeing what’s out there, for sure. So a lot will be predicated first and foremost on what this roster looks like, and we’ll get a good feel for that pretty good.”
Of those aforementioned youngsters, rookie Mikel Brown Jr. rolled his left ankle last week but is recovering and back out on the court on a limited basis.
“Yeah, I’m doing everything possible to get back on the floor,” Brown said. “I’m back on the floor shooting and moving around a little bit. It’s coming along well. I’ve progressed very fast. We’re just attacking it. We’re attacking the rehab and taking it a day at a time.”
Traore and Grant Nelson are both cleared to start camp after they missed Summer League, the former fully recovered from a right knee procedure and the latter back from a postseason knee procedure and early leg woes.
“Physically, those guys are ready for camp,” Marks said. “Nolan will be ramped up a little bit, but at this time I don’t see him missing any days. Grant, same way. Grant is full-go now, which is great to see.”
Traore looked visibly more muscular from last season.
After the arrival of All-Star Julius Randle, Noah Clowney — who started 60 games last season — is going to lose shots and minutes. But he knows the path to preserving what playing time he can.
“To be honest, be a better defender,” Clowney said. “You bring in more people who are going to have the ball on the offensive end… so you want to get the minutes, [I’ll get less shots], that’s the reality. So guarding, making the shots when they come, not forcing, keeping the offense flowing, simple stuff.
“Roles are going to change — that’s a given. I’m probably not going to shoot as many shots as I shot last year. We all know that. But shoot better shots, keep the offense going. When your opportunity comes, make the most of it.”
Josh Minott said he understood his role will change, running less offense but being a disruptor.
“Everything starts defensively,” Minott said. “If you don’t have that, you really don’t have anything.”
