Donta Hall provides the Brooklyn Nets with another bigger body for the Disney bubble while DeAndre Jordan (elected to opt-out after testing positive for COVID-19) and Nic Claxton (left shoulder) sit out the remainder of the 2019-20 season. But the addition of Hall alone isn’t enough.
Like Hall, Michael Beasley is also 6-foot-9 — giving Brooklyn a third player at that height who can play the four.
The third one is Rodions Kurucs, who’s game is unique from his teammates’.
Although he didn’t play a ton for Brooklyn before the hiatus (39 games, four starts), the 2018 second-round pick logged a lot of time as a rookie (64 games, 46 starts). With the Nets running so small, Jacque Vaughn told reporters on a Zoom call Friday that he expects the Latvian will play a significant role in the Disney bubble, per Kristian Winfield of the New York Daily News:
I think his energy we’ll need to take advantage of. He had a good practice today. He’s done a good job of being in drills with wings and with bigs.
We’re trying to make him the best basketball player that he can be. So far he’s accepted that challenge and is willing to play any position for us.
Kurucs’ teammates feel similarly.
Jarrett Allen knows Kurucs will “sacrifice his body and sacrifice the other team’s body for everybody’s sake.” And Garrett Temple expects the forward to “cause havoc” and “be a nuisance” for opposing teams, adding:
Everybody’s getting back into shape, but that’s what we’re expecting from Rodi: his ability to just do the little things, be that dog on the inside, get all the garbage points. I’m excited for the opportunity for him, especially, and hopefully he takes advantage.