With training camp just days away, we’re going to ask a question per day about the upcoming Nets season.
How will the veteran players hold up physically as the season progresses?
The Nets added quite a bit of talent to their roster this offseason. They also added several players with significant wear on their tires.
In trading for Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Jason Terry, the Nets acquired three players with a combined 47 seasons of NBA experience. They also signed Andrei Kirilenko, who is entering his 12th year in the NBA (and his 13th professional season since joining the Jazz in 2001 after playing several years professionally in Europe. And they will continue to rely heavily on Joe Johnson, who is entering his 13th season in the NBA.
That’s not to say that any of these moves were bad — that’s clearly not the case. The Nets’ signing of Kirilenko is a candidate for the best value signing of the NBA offseason, and the trade for Garnett, Pierce and Terry brought the Nets a significant, immediate upgrade of their roster, even at the cost of multiple first-round draft picks down the road.
But the age of the Nets’ roster is a legitimate issue to consider into this season. The irony is the Nets may have enough talented veterans that collectively they should be able to surmount potential wear-and-tear problems of an 82-game NBA season.
Take Pierce (36 next month) and Garnett (37), for example. Both players wore down as the Celtics’ first-round playoff series against the Knicks progressed, simply being forced to do too much and play too many minutes – Pierce played more than 42 minutes per game in that series while Garnett played over 35. Pierce and Garnett also arguably played too many minutes during the regular season (33 and 30 per game, respectively) for the injury-ravaged Celtics.
Both players should see a 3-5 minute per game drop during the regular season, thanks to the amount of depth around them. Garnett could be given about 20 games — even if he remains healthy — with at least four other Nets (Andray Blatche, Mirza Teletovic, Reggie Evans and Kirilenko) capable of playing power forward.
All four veteran wings for the Nets – Pierce, Johnson, Terry and Kirilenko – should benefit from the presence of the others, as well. Last season, Johnson played over 36 minutes for the Nets, Kirilenko played 32 in Minnesota and Terry played 27 in Boston – numbers that each should decrease by a few minutes per game. That the Nets have a fifth capable wing player in Alan Anderson should also allow them to give these players periodic nights off throughout the season.
On paper, the Nets can match up with one of the top teams in the East: the Heat, Bulls and Pacers. The health of their veteran players will be instrumental. That they have so many could be the biggest reason the Nets are able to make the kind of impact in the playoffs they are hoping for.