Bleacher Report says that the Nets should “dump” Day’ron Sharpe. Should they?
Brooklyn Nets center Day’ron Sharpe is one of the young players that the team is hoping will become part of the rotation when the playoffs come around. The second-year player out of UNC is one of the Nets’ true bigs and as a result, may be relied upon to give quality minutes if Brooklyn does not make a move for another big to increase the depth in the frontcourt.
However, in an article published by Bleacher Report on Saturday, it was suggested that the Nets should not wait around for Sharpe to find his way on the court. With Brooklyn looking to win a title this season before addressing the possible uncertainty coming this offseason, B/R believes that Brooklyn should find a way to unload Sharpe within any trade that they pull off before the deadline.
Sharpe, who is averaging 3.5 points and 3.0 rebounds per game while shooting 52.4% from the field, has spent a good amount of this season with the Nets’ G-League affiliate, the Long Island Nets. In eight games with Long Island, Sharpe is averaging 14.8 points, 12.1 rebounds, and 2.0 blocks per game while shooting 55.6% from the field. B/R’s Zach Buckley said the following about why Brooklyn should move on from Sharpe:
“The Brooklyn Nets are on the hunt for upgrades, per The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, who listed Seth Curry, Joe Harris and Patty Mills as candidates for a trade, presumably one that sacrifices perimeter scoring for better depth up front.
No matter which of those players are moved, it would behoove Brooklyn to attach Day’Ron Sharpe to the deal. He can’t have a ton of trade value, but rebuilders might see the appeal of grabbing a flier on a 2021 first-round pick.
The Nets, as you’ve surely heard a thousand times this season, could stand to add size at the center spot. Sharpe is the team’s biggest player (6’11”, 265 lbs), but that hasn’t been enough to get him regular run. Five of his last six few-and-far-between appearances lasted fewer than seven minutes.”
Here are your Nets player grades for Sunday’s 112-102 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets welcomed the Oklahoma City Thunder to Barclays Center on Sunday and lost 112-102. This is the first of two meetings between the teams this regular-season. Oklahoma now leads the series 1-0.
For the Nets, Seth Curry had 23 points off the bench and Nic Claxton had 17 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks. Royce O’Neale had 11 points, 10 rebounds, and eight assists while Kyrie Irving had 15 points.
For the Thunder, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points and seven rebounds while Josh Giddey had 28 points, nine rebounds, and nine assists. Lu Dort had 22 points and Isaiah Joe had nine points off the bench.
In almost a repeat of the loss to the Boston Celtics on Thursday, the Nets were competitive for the first three quarters and was up by 10 points at one point. There were too many times where Brooklyn forgot to cover someone, whether at the three-point line or at the rim, and it doomed them in the end.
As has been the case throughout this season, Brooklyn had trouble limiting dribble penetration. Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey were able to get to the rim at will and even with Claxton having four blocks, the Nets struggled to defend the paint. Nets guard Ben Simmons was a late scratch for this game due to back soreness.
Here are your Nets player grades for Monday’s beatdown of the Spurs.
NEW YORK — The Brooklyn Nets welcomed the San Antonio Spurs to Barclays Center on Monday and 139-103. This is the first of two matchups between the teams this season.
For the Nets, Kyrie Irving had 27 points and eight rebounds while Kevin Durant had 25 points and 11 assists. TJ Warren had 18 points and two steals off the bench and Seth curry had 16 points and four rebounds.
For the Spurs, Keldon Johnson had 22 points and four rebounds while Devin Vassell had 14 points and three assists. Josh Richardson had 11 points and four rebounds off the bench and Zach Collins had 10 points and two rebounds as a reserve in this game.
Brooklyn started this game strong and never looked back. The Nets won the first quarter 37-25 as they were able to get any shot they wanted as well as locking down the Spurs all over the court.
The secret to this game was Brooklyn’s defense. They held San Antonio to 43.3% from the field and 25.8% from behind the three-point line. For most of the game, specifically before the benches were cleared, the Spurs were under 40% from the field.
San Antonio found it difficult to create any easy shots against Brooklyn’s halfcourt defense, but found more success in transition. The Spurs turned the ball over 18 times, which led to 17 points for the Nets, and lost in almost every facet of this game.
Nets’ Jacque Vaughn says this player could become part of the rotation.
Brooklyn Nets head coach Jacque Vaughn had a tall task heading into this game trying to beat an Indiana Pacers team without his entire starting lineup. Most people would chalk that up as a loss and just focus on giving the younger players teaching points as the game wears on.
However, Vaughn and the players had different plans for Saturday. Not only did Brooklyn come back from being 14 points, they also snatched 29 offensive rebounds to run away with the battle of the boards.
The Nets had trouble defending the Pacers until the second half when Vaughn employed a zone defense that frustrated and confused Indiana for almost a full quarter of game time and that allowed the Nets to get back in the game. Center Day’Ron Sharpe had a great game of scoring 20 points and collecting 12 rebounds while being in the right place at the right time and playing hard.
Vaughn even implied that Sharpe could be getting more playing time:
“I tell him (Sharpe), ‘you just want to be on the minds of the coaches’. When they think about who we’re going to put in, you wanna be in that sentence. He’s there. What he does, which helped him in this game, is offensive rebounds compared to the fouling. I think he was in a great position tonight and he’s learning how to be in the right place. Great growth from him”
Brooklyn’s next game is Monday at the Washington Wizards.
Nets’ Day’Ron Sharpe has a message for those who doubt him and the other reserves on the team.
The Brooklyn Nets were projected to lose this game against the Indiana Pacers by a sizable margin after multiple people reported that the Nets were resting eight players, including the entire starting lineup. When it was known that the Pacers were not resting any of their lineups, this game was an automatic loss in most people’s eyes.
Nets center Day’Ron Sharpe did not believe that for a second. The former North Carolina Tar Heel believed that he and his teammates could not only make this competitive, but win the game as well.
In the 136-133 upset win over the Pacers on Saturday, Sharpe did his part by posting 20 points and 12 rebounds in the winning effort. He spoke postgame about how the reserves are still NBA players at the end of the day and that nothing should be taken for granted:
“Personally, I feel like, if you’re in the NBA, you’re in the NBA for a reason. We’re all NBA players. We all play basketball. Just because we’re young, guys tend to look down on us. Just because we ain’t play on the court a lot of times, guys look down on us. But, we did this last year too. When everybody went out with COVID, and it was just us and KD (Kevin Durant), we young guys stepped up again and we did the same thing tonight. Our young group is special.”
Brooklyn’s next game is Monday at the Washington Wizards.
Here are the Nets’ player grades for Saturday’s win over the Indiana Pacers.
The Brooklyn Nets visited the Indiana Pacers on Saturday and won 136-133. This was the fourth and final matchup between these two teams this season and the regular-season series is tied at 2-2.
For the Nets, Cam Thomas had 33 points and three rebounds off the bench while Patty Mills had 24 points and six assists. Day’Ron Sharpe had 20 points and 12 rebounds as Edmond Sumner had 20 points and seven rebounds.
For the Pacers, Tyrese Haliburton had 35 points and nine assists as Buddy Hield had 17 points and four rebounds. Myles Turner had 16 points and three rebounds while Oshae Brissett had 14 points and three rebounds off the bench.
In a game where the Nets rested eight players including Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Brooklyn still had six players in double figures. Not much defense was played in this game by either team, but the Nets were able to limit the Pacers in the second a tad by allowing them to score only 24 points in the third quarter.
The Nets couldn’t hit many 3s, but they did win the rebounding battle 59-30 which includes 29 offensive rebounds. The Nets only had 19 assists as they were relying more on players like Thomas and Mills to hit shots off the dribble or guys like Sumner getting to the rim. Turnovers were an issue for the Nets, but in the end, the 25-11 run Brooklyn made from the middle of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth quarter was huge.
Here are the Nets player grades in the win over the Atlanta Hawks on Friday.
The Brooklyn Nets hosted the Atlanta Hawks on Friday and won 120-116. This was the first of four meetings between the two teams this season.
Kevin Durant had 34 points and five assists for the Nets and Kyrie Irving had 33 points and 11 rebounds. TJ Warren had 14 points off the bench and Seth Curry scored 11 points off the pine.
Trae Young had 33 points and nine assists for the Hawks and Bogdan Bogdanovic had 31 points off the bench. Clint Capel had 15 points and 11 rebounds.
Neither team played much defense, as expected, but the Nets made more shots when the game mattered. Brooklyn had its offense flowing all night and they did a good job of staying competitive on the boards despite being undersized compared to Atlanta.
The Nets turned the ball over too much and they still struggle with defending the paint. Brooklyn led by as much as 12 points in this game despite the Hawks missing Dejounte Murray, John Collins, and De’Andre Hunter.
In the end, Brooklyn did a good job of limiting Young in the second half and Durant and Irving carried the team offensively. This was a good win for the Nets, albeit underwhelming, without Yuta Watanabe and Nic Claxton.
It wasn’t just that Ben Simmons needed a few extra games to get his sea legs back underneath him. He also needed to change his position.
After missing all of last season and then beginning the 2022-23 campaign with a new team, the former No. 1 overall pick struggled dramatically to start his tenure in Brooklyn.
When the Nets acquired Simmons, they thought they were getting the version of him that made First-Team All-Defense in 2021 and 2022. But perhaps they have found a different version of the three-time All-Star.
There were “rumblings” that Simmons would play the five and before the season began, Simmons said that he was “looking forward” to playing center when the matchups called for it. Now, however, it seems like a permanent position change ought to be on the horizon.
Jacque Vaughn says Ben Simmons will start at center tonight, as well. Nic Claxton (personal) is out tonight.
Simmons was the starting center vs. the Grizzlies on Nov. 20 and he finished the game with 22 points (11-of-13 FGA), 8 rebounds, and 5 assists. He was a team-high +19 and it was his best performance of the season.
Although long described as a point guard, the concept of Simmons at the five is nothing new or revolutionary. A few years ago, the late Jonathan Tjarks explained why Simmons makes so much sense as a center (via The Ringer):
“There is a Plan C, one that would move Simmons off the ball and still allow him to contribute on offense: using him as a screener in the pick-and-roll. That role would unlock the best aspects of his game and keep defenses from sagging off him. Simmons would have a counter for everything—he could post up smaller defenders if they switched the screen, roll to the rim and catch lobs against a drop coverage, and make plays in four-on-three situations if they blitzed the screen. He could be a bigger and more athletic version of Draymond Green with more scoring ability. A player can be only as good as the role that he is used in. Draymond wouldn’t be anywhere near as valuable on a team that played only conventional lineups. Spending time at the 5 is even more important for Simmons because he can’t shoot. He wouldn’t have to become a role player. He could do everything that Draymond does while also averaging 20 to 25 points a game.”
Years later, no longer playing with generationally-talented center Joel Embiid, we’re finally beginning to see that evolution for Simmons on the Nets.
Simmons is currently defending centers on a career-high 16.6 percent of his total possessions, per NBA.com. For comparison, Simmons only defended opposing big men for 6.5 percent of possessions in 2019-20 and 7.6 percent of possessions in 2020-21.
Based on what we have seen from Simmons when playing center in the past, the success could continue as he gets more comfortable.
On the offensive side of the floor throughout the course of his NBA career, including his minutes in the postseason, Simmons has averaged 22.9 points and 10.9 assists per 100 possessions when playing either as the guard or the forward.
But in the 8.4 percent of possessions that he has played at the center, those numbers have spiked to a whopping 43.0 points and 13.6 assists per 100. He played center during the first round of the playoffs in 2019, and he looked so good:
Even if those numbers are a result of a small sample size where he could eventually regress to the mean, there is still some reason for optimism.
Brooklyn’s lineups with Kyrie Irving, Joe Harris, Royce O’Neale, Kevin Durant, and Simmons (the de facto big man) have scored 127.0 points per 100 possessions. That ranks as one of the most potent offenses in the Eastern Conference.
But the exact same lineup with Nic Claxton or Day’Ron Sharpe instead of Joe Harris has struggled to score, and it doesn’t exactly take an advanced NBA scout to figure out why: Spacing.
The Nets are shooting 31.8 percent from beyond the arc when Simmons shares the floor with traditional big men like Claxton or Day’Ron Sharpe. Brooklyn has been outscored by 17.6 points per 100 possessions in those minutes.
Ben Simmons at the five can work for periods when the following happens:
– The team gang rebounds – The spacing is there – Ben himself is in form
All of those were the case last night against Memphis.
But when Simmons has played and both Claxton and Sharpe rest, the Nets are outscoring other teams by 6.6 points per 100 and they are shooting 42.1 percent on 3-pointers.
For all of his shortcomings as a shooter, only two players (Chris Paul and Luka Doncic) have assisted on more 3-pointers per 100 possessions since Simmons made his NBA debut in 2017. He is able to create 3-point chances for his teammates at an extremely high rate.
But if he is not able to knock down 3-pointers on his own, the Nets need to flank him with a lineup that can. They can play him with a stretch big if they make a move before the trade deadline, but non-shooters like Claxton and/or Sharpe make the floor too crowded — especially in the dunker spot.
Claxton still provides value as a high-motor big man in the second unit, but for the Nets to have any success as their roster is currently constructed, they will need Simmons to move to the center on a full-time basis.
Just realized that if Nic Claxton misses Tuesday’s game, Ben Simmons will likely start at center against Joel Embiid pic.twitter.com/oKPEiy1FOt
If and when they commit to Simmons at the five, the fun can really start.
Brooklyn’s next game is against the 76ers, which is where Simmons played for the entirety of his career before this season began. If they’re serious about playing Simmons as the big man, that means he will match up against Joel Embiid in Philadelphia.
Reports indicate that during the Brooklyn Nets Practice in the Park that fans had mixed reactions for the organization.
Following the Brooklyn Nets’ rough start to the NBA preseason, the team hosted its annual Practice in the Park, where the team came out to mixed feelings from the fanbase.
Nets insider Christopher Scarglato of The New York Post indicates that even for superstar Kevin Durant, the fanbase received him with a “lukewarm reception.” Scarglato also reports that Nash received a “smattering of boos.”
Young Center Day’Ron Sharpe was made available during the event and discussed the new environment of a COVID-free basketball season:
“I’d say a non-COVID year, like a real year. I’ve been telling some of the teammates everything was different because of COVID, so I need to see how things are without COVID,” Sharpe said. “We’re just crashing hard every day, getting better together, getting better chemistry at the team.”
The Nets organization gave out over 8,000 tickets so fans could attend the sixth annual Practice in the Park.
Former North Carolina Tar Heel Day’Ron Sharpe participates in Brooklyn Nets media day as he prepares for the upcoming season.
The National Basketball Association is almost here as teams have kicked off their annual media day.
Former Tar Heel [autotag]Day’Ron Sharpe[/autotag] will be entering his second year in the NBA as a member of the Brooklyn nets with an uptick of minutes expected. This off-season hasn’t been the easiest for Sharpe, with the unknown of whether or not the star duo of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving rumored to want out.
Those rumors created a bunch of different trade scenarios that included Sharpe’s name in a few. However, eventually, those rumors went to bed with the star duo returning, and Sharpe in trade packages began to disappear.
Sharpe talked to the media about his expectations for the upcoming season, with staying ready as the focal point.
“If I gotta play more minutes, I’m ready,” Sharpe said. “I’ve been working out all summer every day non-stop, so whatever my time is, I’m ready to compete.”
Last season, Sharpe appeared in 32 games, averaging 12.2 minutes, 6.2 points, and five rebounds per game. Sharpe’s best season game came in the 138-112 win over Chicago, where he finished with 20 points, seven rebounds, and one block.
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