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The New Jersey Nets have one of the best point guards in the NBA in Deron Williams. They have a young big man who can score in Brook Lopez. They have a quality power forward in Kris Humphries. What they lacked in 2010-2011 were perimeter players who could knock down shots and score consistently.
Having obtained former Providence guard Marshon Brooks in swap of picks with the Boston Celtics Thursday night (the Nets selected JaJuan Johnson and sent him to Boston with a future second-round pick) the Nets hope they have found a player who can do just that.
ESPN draft analyst Chad Ford graded the Nets' overall draft a B+. He likes the Brooks selection:
The Nets grabbed one of the best scorers in the draft in Brooks. He has NBA length and athleticism and is very aggressive with the ball. Given the Nets' need at the 2 position and their desire to compete right now, he's a really good fit.
SB Nation's Tom Ziller gave the Nets a B+ for the Brooks selection and said landing a scorer like that at No. 27 means New Jersey "came out looking pretty smooth." Whatever that means.
-- See more coverage of the Nets draft at SB Nation New York's NBA Draft Hub.
As soon as the New Jersey Nets selected Bojan Bogdanovic in the second round of Thursday night's draft, there was a question about just when he would be able to play for head coach Avery Johnson. We now have an answer.
Though the new deal he signed with a team, according to reports, Bogdanovic will stay in Turkey for one season before making his debut in Brooklyn in 2012. After scoring 18 points per game in the Euroleague, The 22-year-old Bogdanovic will get another year to refine his game and also allow Marshon Brooks to be the lone rookie on the Nets in 2011-12 that is a score-first player.
Bogdanovic was selected by the Miami Heat with the first pick in the second round (No. 31 overall) and shipped to the Minnesota Timberwolves before his rights were purchased by the Nets. The Wolves will also get New Jersey's second round pick in 2013 in return for Bogdanovic.
Check out some highlights of Bogdanovic:
Bojan Bogdanović highlights (via CroatBasketball)
With their third pick of the night in Thursday's 2011 NBA Draft, the New Jersey Nets selected C Jordan Williams from Maryland. The 6-foot-9, 247-pound Williams is undersized for his position, but gives the team another relentless rebounder to go along with Kris Humphries.
Williams played just two seasons at Maryland, averaging 16.9 points and 11.8 rebounds during his sophomore season while struggling with his conditioning. He reportedly has lost 20 pounds since the end of the Terps season, but for a team that was looking for players that can help immediately there will be concerns about his ability to run with Deron Williams even in limited minutes.
Other than Brook Lopez and Humphries, the Nets are not returning another big man other than Johan Petro. That means Jordan Williams will need to quickly put those concerns to bed and give New Jersey production off the bench if the team is going to take a step forward into the playoff picture.
It took until the first pick in the second round, but the New Jersey Nets were finally able to use some of owner Mikhail Prokhorov's money to pick up an extra draft pick. The Nets bought the 31st overall pick from the Minnesota Timberwolves (after they acquired it from the Miami Heat) and selected SF Bojan Bogdanovic from Bosnia.
Considering their current depth issues, it's surprising that GM Billy King would take a player that might not be able to come to the NBA for a couple of years due to a new buyout.
ESPN's international guru Fran Fraschilla was effusive in his praise for the 6-foot-7 Bogdanovic, saying he would have been a top 15 pick if he had played at Duke or North Carolina last season. Unlike many foreign players that have no experience playing against top American talent, Bogdanovic scored 17 points against Team USA last year.
No matter when he ends up with the Nets, along with Brooks, Bogdanovic will make sure that Avery Johnson's squad never has the type of trouble scoring it had last season.
New Jersey Nets GM Billy King said there would be an opportunity to make a deal on draft night and when the time came that's exactly what happened. The Nets selected Purdue power forward JaJuan Johnson with the No. 27 pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, but traded his rights to the Boston Celtics for explosive Providence shooting guard Marshon Brooks. In addition to Johnson, the Nets also sent a future second round pick to Boston in the deal.
For a team that struggled to put points on the board, the Nets are adding a player who averaged 24.6 points per game in the Big East in Brooks. While he wasn't known as a great defender at Providence, Nets head coach Avery Johnson will make sure Brooks uses his 7-1 wingspan on both sides of the court.
King and Johnson want to give point guard Deron Williams as many toys to play with next season as possible to help make his decision to stay in New Jersey/Brooklyn an easy one. With Brooks, Williams gets one of the flashiest toys available in the store.
With Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries holding down the post, Brooks will always be a threat to attack the rim, and with sharpshooter Anthony Morrow ready to fire at any moment, Williams all of a sudden finds himself running an offense with the potential to be one of the more exciting in the league.
Despite Three Year Contract, Nets Hope To Have Second Round Pick Bojan Bogdanovic In 2012
The New Jersey Nets introduced their three draft picks to the media on Monday, MarShon Brooks, Jordan Williams and Bojan Bogdanovic. While Brooks and Williams will be in camp with the Nets next season -- whenever that ends up being -- Bogdanovic will be playing with Fenerbahce in Turkey after signing a brand new three-year contract.
Originally the thought was that Bogdanovic would spend just one year in Turkey before making his debut with the Brooklyn Nets in 2012. However his contract does not contain a buyout until after the second season, putting the earliest he could be a part of Avery Johnson's rotation would be 2013.
GM Billy King has said that Bogdanovic's contract was not a surprise, but that he will attempt to get the high-scoring rookie in a Nets jersey in 2012.
For his part, Bogdanovic told the media on Monday that his experience playing (and scoring 17) against Team USA at the World Championships helped to build a foundation for his future in the NBA.
"I was able to see where I was at against the best players in the world like Kevin Durant, so that helped me a lot."
Whenever the Nets are able to get Bogdanovic to play in Brooklyn, they will be getting a player that ranked second in the Euroleauge last season with 18.9 points at just 22-year old.
Jun 27 1:45p by Ryan Jones