After a much rather disappointing season in Brooklyn, the Nets are heading into their third year since their move from New Jersey to Brooklyn. After having the bar raised so high with one of the most outrageous spending fees in NBA history, the Nets have shied away and taken another approach heading into the season.
Last off-season, the Nets made a huge splash when they traded for former Celtics, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Jason Terry. This move was supposed to put the Nets in contention to challenge the Heat in the Eastern Conference right away. However, after a rather inconsistent season, the Nets managed to squeal into the second round by the skin of their teeth only to be defeated in five games to the Miami Heat.
Fast forward one year, the Nets chose not to re-sign Paul Pierce to a contract extension; he is now in Washington with the Wizards. Jason Terry was traded from Brooklyn before last season's trade deadline along with Reggie Evans for scoring guard, Marcus Thornton. Heading into the 2014-2015 season, besides Andrei Kirilenko and Alan Anderson, Garnett is the only one who remains a Net out of the 2013 off-season frenzy.
Jason Kidd is no longer the team's head coach, so Lionel Hollins has stepped in. A disciplinarian with a focus on defensive-sound basketball is looking to come right in and lead this team right back to where they left off last season. Hollins has a ton of different pieces to work with this season, and has a rather young core of players compared to an aging-veteran team last season.
Deron Williams and Joe Johnson will man the backcourt. There is no question about it. However, the question arises on who will man the frontcourt? Brook Lopez has fully recovered from his season-ending injury and will play center. Therefore, there are two spots that are open - power forward and small forward.
There is much speculation the new Brooklyn Net swingman, Bojan Bogdanovic will start at small forward, so there's four positions filled, with one left to be filled.
The question arises, what does Lionel Hollins do with Kevin Garnett? Both have a symbiotic relationship as Hollins is a defensive-minded coach while Garnett is a defensive anchor on the court. Hollins has visions in making the Garnett-Lopez experiment that Jason Kidd was never able to fix last season work this year. Should Lionel Hollins start Kevin Garnett this season? Hollins had two questions to face while making this decision:
1. Does Kevin Garnett have enough in the tank to start in his 20th NBA season?
The answer is yes. Last season, Pierce and Garnett were this team's locker room presence. They provided heart, passion, and kept the team on the right mindset. Pierce is now gone, so Kevin Garnett is left to fill that void. Garnett served as a great mentor in the development of soon to be second-year big man, Mason Plumlee and big man, Brook Lopez. Despite Garnett's rough start, he managed to turn it around and be a pivotal factor in the Nets' late season surge to the postseason. Even though Garnett was on a minute restriction due to age and to preserve him through the season, he managed to make his minutes count and be everything the Nets could have asked for in the locker room. Garnett saw career lows in points, minutes, and field goal percentage. With the minutes he played, the Nets could live with it considering their depth.
2. Is there anyone on this roster better than Garnett to play power forward?
The answer is no. While arguments could be made on why Garnett should not start and yield to someone else, the fact of the matter is that even Garnett on the decline gives this team their best option at this position. Garnett has one of the best basketball I.Q.'s in the NBA for a big man and is still defensively solid, which will fit the vision of what Hollins wants to do with this team. Mirza Teletovic is a name tossed around to fill that spot, but he is more of a swingman that provides instant offense with his shooting ability. Then, you have Mason Plumlee. Plumlee had a terrific off-season as he was a member of Team USA at this summer's FIBA World Cup as the team took home the gold medal. However, Plumlee is still learning, and he will certainly see his fair share of minutes this season as Garnett will not be able to play as much. That being said, an extra season of Garnett mentoring Plumlee will only suit him better for the long-term.
Therefore, Hollins should start Garnett. Garnett truly gives something that is very undervalued in this league, and that is passion, heart, and grit on an everyday basis.