SAN DIEGO – The Nets frontcourt that will start this season looks nothing like the one that ended last season.
Blake Griffin started every game in last season’s playoffs as a smallball stretch five, but it was almost by default. Nic Claxton was struggling, and the second-year pro averaged just 10 minutes per game in the postseason. DeAndre Jordan never got off the bench for the final 16 games and was essentially persona non grata. Jeff Green was hurt.
Now, in an offseason makeover at the 4 and 5 positions, the depth has gone from wafer-thin to crowded (for a team chasing a championship, it’s never enough, right?). The Nets have been bolstered by the additions of LaMarcus Aldridge and Paul Millsap – accomplished veterans who presumably didn’t sign to sit on the bench – plus first-round draft pick Day’Ron Sharpe. Griffin and Claxton are back; Jordan (traded to the Pistons in a salary dump, waived then signed by the Lakers) and Green (joined the Nuggets as a free agent) are gone.
Also in the lineup: an all-universe forward by the name of Kevin Durant.