When the Nets decided on Mason Plumlee with the 22nd pick of the 2013 draft, they envisioned a young, unpolished athlete who would likely split his time between riding the bench and the D league. After all, the Nets did and still do have the talents of All Star center Brook Lopez at their disposal, followed by Kevin Garnett rounding out his Hall of Fame career.  In December of the regular season, Lopez would suffer a season ending injury, and while it seemed to be the nail in the Nets’ coffin at the time, it would actually open a window of opportunity for the former Duke player, and his trial by fire season would begin.  

For all the madness surrounding Jason Kidd’s coaching style and antics, he was the one responsible for instilling a “next man up” attitude and an unselfish style of play that paralleled his career on the court. Combining this team first culture, with a young and humble athlete ready to soak up the knowledge of his peers is in part what has enabled Mason Plumlee to evolve from a D leaguer to a probable starter famous for blocking both Lebron James and Joakim Noah. Kidd would limit Plumlee’s shooting to high percentage shots taken only in the paint (really  just dunks), as Kidd rightfully recognized  that while talented and athletic, Mason was still a raw prospect in need of development and did not want to set him or  the team up to fail.  In the 2013 regular season Plumlee would start 22 games at the 5 spot, playing 70 games in total averaging 18 minutes and 7.4 points to go with 4.4 rebounds per game. 

The stats don’t tell the whole story however. While athletic and capable in his own right, Plumlee’s best attribute is willingness to accept challenges and learn from those  who know more than he does, and who better to teach a young up and coming big man (besides arguably  Tim Duncan and Dirk Nowitzki)  than Kevin Garnett himself. During the offseason prior to this season, it was Mase who gave first indications that Garnett would indeed be returning for his second season in Brooklyn while Garnett was out of communication with the rest of the team. KG and Mase have developed a mentor-mentee relationship, an unexpected byproduct of the blockbuster trade that brought KG to Brooklyn. With Paul Pierce in Washington, Jason Terry in Houston and Garnett in what is likely his last season, the  KG/Plumlee dynamic could end up being the most important result of the Boston trade. Nets’ draft picks are harder to find than reasonably priced apartments in Williamsburg so it’s likely that who we see on the team now is for the most part, who’s going to be on the team for the foreseeable future.  Garnett has been invaluable as a personal coach for Plumlee, especially considering Plumlee’s defense is seen as his biggest hindrance and the Big Ticket is himself is a defensive guru.  

In addition to KG’s mentorship,  Plumlee is in position to expand his role and abilities under coach Lionel Hollins. Hollins, who has installed a Sloan style flex offense for the Nets, utilizing cuts and the pick and roll,while playing more up-tempo than they had in years prior. Plumlee’s athleticism will no doubt be utilized heavily but Lionel Hollins doesn’t intend to squander talent in favor of athleticism. A few years ago, Clippers’ superstar power forward Blake Griffin was seen as little more than an athlete and glorified dunker but today is seen as a quality skill player.  Plumlee in all likelihood won’t reach that level of skill (sorry Nets fans) the principle is the same. Plumlee is on the verge of becoming a skill player. With Mason Plumlee still fresh off his FIBA gold medal stint with some of the league’s best  talent, his confidence is understandably high, possibly too high to the point of over confidence and Lionel Hollins wants to rain him in. Hollins wants Plumlee to develop more post moves and we’ve already seen him use a hook shot in the preseason, in addition to being aggressive and active on the boards on a Nets team that desperately needs help crashing the glass. Hollins has recently praised Plumlee for his footwork and aggressiveness saying it’ll be key for the Nets this year and in likely in the future. What Hollins is not keen on, however is Plumlee’s eagerness to shoot midrange jumpers. Hollins has stated that he rather not have Mase take any jump shots  at all, instead focusing entirely on those post moves. Trust is earned however, and if Mase continues to improve exponentially in his second year, developing his post moves and racking up second chance opportunities in his time on the court, it’s reasonable to assume that Hollins will allow Mase to shoot the ball, just not any time soon. This is going to be crucial if Plumlee wants to make the eventual jump to power forward which is his eventual goal, stating that he believes he’d be comfortable playing at the 4 alongside Brook Lopez. Given his track record, we should have no reason to doubt the effort he’ll put into improving and accomplishing whatever task is assigned to him by his coach and his teammates. We don’t know what his ceiling is yet exactly, but as the best young Nets player who doesn’t squander opportunities in front of him,  look for Mason Plumlee to be in the conversation for most improved player for the 2014-2015 season.

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About the author
Matt A Moufarege
Vavel Staff Writer covering the NFL/NBA and Misc. Psychology. Queens, New York