With training camp just days away, we’re going to ask a question per day about the upcoming Nets season.
Do any of the three young players on the team — rookie Mason Plumlee and second-year players Tyshawn Taylor and Tornike Shengelia –- have a chance at earning playing time this season?
All of the celebrated moves the Nets made this offseason – trading for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, signing Andrei Kirilenko, re-signing Andray Blatche – involved bringing in veterans to try to make a deep playoff run this season.
While there is little doubt the Nets improved their talent level, they left Plumlee, Taylor and Shengelia without a clear path to any playing time — at least other than in the D-League with the Springfield Armor.
Is it possible for any of these three to get into the rotation this season? It doesn’t seem likely. At one point, it looked as if Taylor, 23, might enter the season as Deron Williams’ understudy at point guard. However, the signing of Shaun Livingston means, barring injury, Taylor will be back in the same role he was last season, when he served as the third-stringer behind Williams and C.J. Watson, only getting significant playing time when one of them was out of the lineup.
Shengelia finds himself in a similar situation. The acquisitions of Pierce and Kirilenko make Shengelia a clear third on the depth chart at small forward. Though Shengelia – a native of Georgia who turns 22 in November – has some potential as a smallball four, Kirilenko also has that flexibility, and the Nets already have several other options at power forward.
Plumlee, a 23-year-old Duke product, could find some playing time, as the one unsettled rotation spot is at backup power forward. However, with Reggie Evans, Mirza Teletovic and Andray Blatche each capable of playing there, it will be hard for Plumlee to get minutes unless someone goes down with an injury.
The most likely scenario for all three is they spend a good portion of the season playing in the D-League, filling in with the Nets whenever they give some of their veterans the night off – something they are almost certain to do with Garnett and likely with Pierce as well – or when injuries crop up throughout the season.