Brooklyn Nets: How the Nets transformed into a playoff contender

Player Development

It isn’t enough to just draft players in the NBA and hope they work out. Player development is vital to any team’s success and that is one area Brooklyn has excelled at and can be credited as one of the main reasons they have surprised the basketball world this year.

D’Angelo Russell arrived in Brooklyn as an inefficient, immature, shoot-first point guard. Now, he is an all-star and a leader on this young team.

Caris LeVert was initially looked at as a risky, injury-prone prospect but he has shown flashes of stardom as a combo guard. As long as he can stay healthy, he’ll likely be an all-star calibre player in the near future.

When Spencer Dinwiddie came to town, he was an afterthought. Now he is a sixth man of the year candidate, averaging 17 points and 5 assists per game.

Jarrett Allen has emerged as a ferocious rim protector and intimidating interior presence.

They also have guys like Joe Harris who has become one of the best shooters in the league and Shabazz Napier who also helps spread the floor and can run the show when Russell and Dinwiddie aren’t in the game.

The Nets front office definitely deserves a ton of credit for making all of these smart draft picks and trades, acquiring these guys who fit together so well on this team. Head coach, Kenny Atkinson also deserves a lot more credit than he’s getting for the job he’s done putting each and every one of these guys in the best possible position to succeed.