The regular season wasn’t pretty, but the Brooklyn Nets came up with a valiant effort against the No. 1-seeded Atlanta Hawks in the first round of the NBA playoffs. After finishing the regular season six games under .500 (38-44), the Nets earned the eighth seed in the East by virtue of a tiebreaker over the Indiana Pacers.
After losing the first two games of the series against the Hawks, the Nets took their first home contest, then rallied behind 35 points from Deron Williams in Game 4. Eventually, the Hawks flexed their muscle and took over to reach the next round, causing the Brooklyn Nets to shift their attention towards the offseason and the NBA Draft.
Unfortunately, it is well documented that the Nets are in a troubled position when it comes to the overall direction of the franchise. The Nets had the highest payroll in the NBA last season, and shed many draft picks when acquiring Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett in 2013. But the focus is on this year’s draft, where the Nets will select 29th overall.
Out-of-town Nets fans can see the draft at the home of the team at the Barclays Center on June 25. Flights to New York City can be booked through Hipmunk.com, along with New York City hotels that are an easily-accessible metro ride away from the Barclays Center. According to TiqIQ.com, tickets to the NBA Draft on the secondary market have an average price of $94.91 and a get-in price of $38.
With that, below are the two choices for the Nets’ draft selection at No. 29 overall that seem to be comparable from multiple draft boards.
Terry Rozier | Louisville | Sophomore | Guard | 6’1”, 190 lbs.
When Louisville’s starting point guard was out indefinitely due to off-the-court issues, Terry Rozier stepped up and showed how effective he could be. With more touches, Rozier’s ability to get into the lane blossomed as he made play after play to boost the Cardinals into an Elite Eight appearance. Rozier’s play-making skills are undeniable but will have to learn tricks of the trade of being an NBA point guard. At 6’1”, Rozier isn’t big enough to guard shooting guards and will have to go up against other teams point guards one-on-one and show he has the ability to run an NBA offense.
Rashad Vaughn | UNLV | Freshman | Shooting Guard | 6’6”, 210 lbs.
Vaughn was one of the top scoring freshman in the NCAA last season (his 17.8 points per game were third-most amongst all first-year players) and only scored in single-digits twice in 23 games. This is the prototypical NBA two-guard, with the caveat that he improves on his shot selection. On a non-NCAA tournament team, Vaughn had free reign to put up whatever shots he wanted in effort to try and carry the team to victories. Hopefully, Vaughn has the understanding that with NBA talent around him, he would have significant help and some of those bad shots can’t be taken. If teams believe in Vaughn’s basketball IQ along with his ability to score the basketball, he may be shooting up the projection rankings leading up to the draft.
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