Goal #3: Win 40 games

The Nets did have some good moments last season, as was previously noted, and they are a team that gives undeniable effort. Atkinson should get a ton of credit for that, as he seems to get the best out of his players on most nights. This is a key year for Brooklyn, given that they’ve been in rebuilding mode for a number of years now, and they need to show considerable improvement in the area of wins and losses.

Brooklyn is still in the player development side of things with mostly young players logging big minutes. That being said, they do need to get better at winning close games. Only three teams in the Association had a worse net rating in clutch situations (situations where two teams are separated by five points or less and there is five minutes or less in the game), per NBA.com. Finding a way to get better in those instances will go a long way in getting more wins.

The Nets do have some players who had career seasons in 2017-18, and they are capable of stepping it up even more in 2018-19. D’Angelo Russell led qualified Nets in scoring last season with 15.5 points per game, while Rondae Hollis-Jefferson (13.9 ppg), Caris LeVert (12.1 ppg), Allen Crabbe (13.2 ppg), Spencer Dinwiddie (12.6 ppg) and Joe Harris (10.8 ppg) all made big leaps forward as well.

New arrival Treveon Graham from the Charlotte Hornets also fits into that perimeter shooting mold, as he shot 41.2 percent from three in his first full NBA season last year. Along with that, the Nets added veteran floor-spacer Jared Dudley from the Phoenix Suns in late July, per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.

With a pace-and-space offensive system, they filled it up with spot-ups, and Hollis-Jefferson and rookie Jarrett Allen established themselves as quality rollers. As a team, the Nets placed in the 93rd percentile in spot-up scoring, per Synergy Sports. They made the most catch-and-shoot 3’s per game of any NBA team, according to Second Spectrum’s NBA Tracking Data.

Russell and Dinwiddie established themselves as the primary playmakers on the Nets, as Dinwiddie led the way with 6.6 assists and Russell had 5.2. Both have good court vision, and they are more than capable of fitting the ball into tight windows operating in the pick-and-roll. Harris established himself as a really effective playmaker this season, too, and this statistic was somewhat mind-blowing, per Andy Bailey of Bleacher Report (look for youngster Dzanan Musa to flash as a pick-and-roll playmaker with a world of potential in spurts this season as well).

Under-the-radar guy I like for anyone is Joe Harris. He took almost five threes a game and had a .634 TS%.

Even crazier: Among player with 100+ FGA out of drives, Harris' FG% on drives of 62.7 ranked 1st. Some LeBron James guy was 2nd.https://t.co/MCdYLBqcvX

— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) June 30, 2018

If Brooklyn is going to make a push for the playoffs this season, though, they’ll need to get better on defense. Only five teams had a worse defensive rating last year. They also placed in the 7th percentile in guarding ball-handlers in the PnR, the 21st percentile against roll men, and were the worst team in defending spot-ups, per Synergy.

They are one of the youngest teams in the league, and with them playing a number of players not particularly athletic defensively in Harris, Crabbe and Russell big minutes, it’s difficult to see them stopping people. Hollis-Jefferson is a versatile defender that can switch comfortably among 1-3, and against small-ball four’s, LeVert flashes in spurts, and new arrival Ed Davis and Allen provide a nice 1-2 punch as shot blockers, but there’s not a ton of defensive capability outside of that in their regular rotation.

For a long-term move, they’ll need to either lock up one or both of Russell and Dinwiddie for the foreseeable future, or try to move them. Russell is due for a huge pay day after next season, and with the Nets potentially having space for two maximum contracts in 2019 free agency, Russell could be a man out. He’s a good player, but it’s unclear whether or not he can be a long-term franchise player. He does have the potential to be that if he can be healthier, though.

Next Up: Goal #2