ORLANDO, Fla. — After all of the drama that has surrounded the Nets over the past week, things will begin to get back to normal Saturday morning when the Nets kick off the Orlando Summer League against the Pacers.
The Nets’ participation in summer league was the last thing anyone was thinking about with Jason Kidd suddenly leaving Brooklyn for Milwaukee. General manager Billy King wasted no time to wrap up the hiring of Lionel Hollins as Kidd’s replacement, which the Nets announced hours after Kidd’s introductory press conference in Milwaukee on Wednesday.
But there will still be several things worth keeping an eye on while the Nets play five games over the next seven days, including matchups against the Heat, Thunder and 76ers.
The player likely to earn the most attention is Mason Plumlee, coming off a terrific rookie season in which he was one of the biggest surprises of the 2013 draft class. Plumlee, who was taken No. 22 overall, finished fourth in Rookie of the Year voting and was an All-Rookie First-Team selection.
Plumlee showed off his athleticism throughout the season, as he threw down one alley-oop after another while shooting 65.9 percent from the field — mostly due to being all but barred by Kidd from taking outside shots. The 6-foot-11 big man took just eight shots — including a pair of half-court heaves — outside the paint all season, but is likely to shoot at least that many, if not more, during the games this week.
Then there’s the opportunity for a quartet of young guards — Jorge Gutierrez, Marquis Teague, Markel Brown and Xavier Thames — to try and show the Nets they are capable of helping to fill the void left by Shaun Livingston’s departure to Golden State. The Nets don’t have a clear option as a backup point guard behind Deron Williams.
Gutierrez, who has a non-guaranteed contract for next season, played well as the team’s third point guard after the Nets signed him in March. Teague, signed through next year with a team option for 2015-16, struggled after coming to the Nets from the Bulls in a midseason trade.
Brown and Thames, on the other hand, are two of the three second-round picks the Nets scooped up in this year’s NBA Draft. While Brown, the 44th overall pick out of Oklahoma State, is expected to sign with the Nets later this summer, it’s still unclear whether Thames or former Baylor forward Cory Jefferson — the final two picks of the draft — will be given a chance to make the team or will instead be stashed overseas or in the D-League.
Then there’s Donte Greene and Adonis Thomas, who will be looking to impress either the Nets or other teams in Orlando in order to get another shot in the league next season. Greene was set to be signed by the Nets in the summer of 2012 before he injured his ankle, and the team wound up signing Josh Childress instead. Greene spent last season with the Dongguan Leopards in the Chinese League, averaging 19.6 points and 7.8 rebounds in 41 games.
Thomas spent last season playing for the Nets’ former D-League affiliate, the Springfield Armor, which has since moved to Grand Rapids, Mich., to be affiliated with the Pistons. Thomas also appeared in a combined six games with the Magic and Sixers in a pair of D-League callups.
The tumult surrounding the team had another impact: The Nets’ Summer League team was supposed to be coached by Sean Sweeney. But with Sweeney now in Milwaukee as an assistant on Kidd’s staff, King said the team would be coached by assistants John Welch, Roy Rogers and Jim Sann. Welch, however, has been contacted by Kidd to also join him in Milwaukee, and his plans are unclear.
Hollins is still in the process of putting together his staff, and it’s unknown if any of Kidd’s former assistants — including Lawrence Frank — will be asked to be part of it.