Noah Clowney\u2019s answer to the Nets\u2019 crowded rotation took five words.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet the best man win.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fourth-year forward started 60 games and averaged 27 minutes last season. Now he expects fewer shots and knows he\u2019ll have to make a stronger case for his time on the floor. Defense, sound decisions and keeping the offense moving will matter more as Brooklyn asks other players to handle the scoring.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the adjustment awaiting several Nets as the rebuild moves into another season.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn went 20-62 last season. General manager Sean Marks and head coach Jordi Fern\u00e1ndez want the next round of lessons to come with more wins. Julius Randle, Keon Ellis and Moritz Wagner have joined a roster stocked with eight players acquired through the past two drafts, giving Fern\u00e1ndez more options and the young players more competition.<\/p>\n
At media day Monday, Marks made the terms clear.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing\u2019s going to be handed to these guys,\u201d Marks said. \u201cI think you can win through development, and you can develop through winning. And both those things go hand in hand here. So, it\u2019s important for guys to feel like what it takes to win. They need to be held accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clowney expects the competition to help the team. His own case for minutes will depend partly on what he does when the ball is in somebody else\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ll make each other better in the process, but at the end of the day, probably nine, 10 people are going to play every night,\u201d Clowney said. \u201cSo, if you want your minutes, you have to take them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Josh Minott has already felt what an opportunity can do for a player\u2019s confidence. The young forward averaged 10.8 points in 19.3 minutes across 16 Brooklyn appearances. The lineups and playing time gave him room to establish himself. Now he expects to contribute more through defense, cuts and screens while others direct the offense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fully bought in on the goals of the team, and I understand that my role\u2019s very likely going to change from what you guys saw, which I don\u2019t fear at all,\u201d Minott said.<\/p>\n
For Marks, last season\u2019s experience should help players handle those changes. They felt the league\u2019s size, speed and physicality, then entered the summer knowing more about what NBA competition required. Brooklyn still needs to determine whose growth can become part of its long-term foundation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve always said over the course of the last couple of years, it\u2019s like we\u2019re looking for the next Nets,\u201d Marks said. \u201cWho are those guys? So, we have a training camp and another year to figure this out as we build.\u201d<\/p>\n
The veterans will help shape those answers.<\/p>\n
Randle brings three All-Star selections and 12 seasons of NBA experience. Ellis adds playoff experience and point-of-attack defense. Wagner gives Fern\u00e1ndez another established big, while Michael Porter Jr. remains one of Brooklyn\u2019s primary offensive threats.<\/p>\n
Their presence raises the level the young players will have to meet every day.<\/p>\n
\u201cThose kids are not 19 years old anymore,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cThey\u2019re 20 and they look older, they look stronger and they\u2019re committed to show up in camp and fight for spots.\u201d<\/p>\n
The veterans have responsibilities beyond winning those matchups. Brooklyn needs them to teach, too. Terance Mann called the additions \u201cexactly what we needed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMore guys with the experience, like I said before, to help us win that come from winning situations,\u201d Mann said. \u201cSo, they\u2019re going to be able to regulate the locker room and not make it like high school all the time, but a little more serious and just help these guys with their future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Clowney is already learning from the player who could take a sizable share of the frontcourt minutes. Randle has talked him through what was asked of him early in his career, before he earned the freedom to expand his game. Guarding him in practice gives Clowney another way to take notes.<\/p>\n
Drake Powell recalled Randle using a play in practice to emphasize how quickly a game can change and why every possession matters.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s just important to value each possession that you have,\u201d Powell said.<\/p>\n
Powell believes the daily competition will leave Brooklyn better prepared when games begin. Ben Saraf called it healthy. Both spent the summer working on the consistency their coaches wanted, knowing a deeper roster would make minutes harder to find.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody needs to fight for his minutes and I\u2019m ready for it,\u201d Saraf said.<\/p>\n
Fern\u00e1ndez has to hold up his end, too. If players do the work and show they\u2019re ready, Brooklyn\u2019s coach has to recognize it. A roster deep enough to make those decisions difficult is exactly what Fern\u00e1ndez wants.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf you are that good consistently, don\u2019t worry that I will see that,\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cI may make a mistake, but my job is not to make two or three.\u201d<\/p>\n
For two seasons, Brooklyn could learn about its future by putting young players on the floor. This time, getting there is part of the lesson. And the competition will continue after camp. Earning a place in the rotation means giving Fern\u00e1ndez a reason to keep coming back to you.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou take advantage, then it comes, can you sustain it?\u201d Fern\u00e1ndez said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Noah Clowney\u2019s answer to the Nets\u2019 crowded rotation took five words. \u201cLet the best man win.\u201d The fourth-year…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359969,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[98,100,99,22597,4570,4475,9,24,4610,63,8439,63749],"class_list":["post-359968","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-draft","tag-jordi-fernandez","tag-nets","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-noah-clowney","tag-nyc","tag-sean-marks","tag-training-camp"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359968","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359968"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359968\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359968"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359968"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359968"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}