Part 9 of a series analyzing the Brooklyn Nets.
When DeAndre Jordan came to the Nets to team up with superstar pals Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, he expected to start. The fact that he didn’t under Kenny Atkinson will always be linked with the ex-coach’s ouster, for better or worse.
Throughout the season — now suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic — Atkinson painted the Nets’ depth at center with Jordan and Jarrett Allen as a huge advantage. And while it could’ve — and perhaps should’ve — been, the position never reached its peak in terms of stability or production.
That may have contributed to Atkinson’s undoing.
Jordan is an elite rebounder, while Allen is more mobile and a decade younger. But arguing who is better is a fool’s errand. The more germane discussion is who fits better — in terms of both chemistry and play — with Durant and Irving.
Answer that question, and that is who will likely be the starter going forward — especially with the belief in NBA circles that the Nets could hunt for a third star this offseason, and Allen being one of their most attractive assets.
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For his part, the 31-year-old Jordan acknowledged he’s had to adjust to being a reserve. And even in the weeks before parting ways with the Nets, Atkinson admitted he was still learning about Jordan and getting used to the veteran big man.
Atkinson was one of Allen’s biggest backers, and there is a perception that his decision to keep Jordan on the bench contributed to the shaky footing that eventually broke underneath him on March 7.
“The guys who’d been here love him, so I’m sure it’s tough for them,” Jordan said at the time. “At the end of the day, this is a business, coaches get fired, players get cut, get traded, whatever it is.”
The perception is that the move was incited by Irving and at least tacitly approved by Durant. But Jordan pushed back against that.
“Yeah I’m close to Kyrie, but Wilson [Chandler] is a new player, Garrett Temple is a new player. We’re all new players. So if you’re going to say new players, put it on all eight of the new players,” Jordan said after the win over Chicago the day after Atkinson’s ouster. “I think whatever you’re saying, and whatever the reports are, are bulls—.”
But the questions aren’t liable to stop, even if play has.
Even when Allen’s form dipped — a team-worst minus-49 over the last eight games — Atkinson went to using Jordan at crunch time in the fourth quarter, but still hesitated to start him. That is, until the Nets replaced him and elevated assistant Jacque Vaughn to interim coach.
Vaughn’s first order of business was to promptly put Jordan in the lineup over Allen, despite being a decade younger. The veteran was a plus-12 in the victory over Chicago, then ripped down 12 rebounds in the road win over the Lakers before the season was suspended.
At the time Vaughn framed it as a tactical call, saying it shored up the first-unit defense. He also added “it gave both those guys a drive to give us their best.”
But there is the matter of fit with Durant and Irving, who had talked about playing with Jordan since they won 2016 Olympic gold together. And there is also the fact that, after reportedly turning down an offer for Allen that would’ve brought back Clint Capela, the Nets could package him to try to get a Bradley Beal.
Organizationally, making the right call at center is one of the biggest decisions the Nets have if and when the 2019-20 season resumes — or this offseason if it doesn’t.