Both are getting rave reviews as summer bargains.
Ed Davis, Nets
One year, $4.4 million
Davis is becoming the new Mike Conley, except not as talented and not as well-known. I’m convinced every team in the NBA could use Ed Davis, and I’m surprised the Blazers let him go. He is the perfect backup big, and, as evidenced by Damian Lillard’s reaction upon Davis’s departure, a great locker room guy. Brooklyn nabbing the 29-year-old is both a steal and a bummer. Davis could help a contending team. Instead, he’ll be backing up 23-year-old Rondae Hollis-Jefferson or playing alongside 20-year-old Jarrett Allen as the Nets continue their slow ascent from the bottom of the league.
Basketball insiders:
Spoiler:
Shabazz Napier
After making the difficult decision to move on from Lin (and Isaiah Whitehead) in pick-garnering deals, the Nets had a clear need for a third point guard — and, all things considered, Napier is the perfect fit. While Napier has never earned the lion share of minutes at his position, the fifth-year orchestrator made the most of his career-high 20.7 minutes per game last season in Portland.
Entrenched behind the superstar backcourt of Damian Lillard and C.J. McCollum, Napier averaged 8.7 points, 2.3 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.1 steals on 37.6 percent from three-point range.And although the Nets haven’t found overall team success with Atkinson quite yet, they’ve committed to installing a modern, three-point-focused offense.
Back in 2016-17, Atkinson’s first season at the helm, the Nets tossed up 31.6 three-point attempts per game — the fourth-highest clip in the NBA — and converted on just 33.8 percent of them. The following year, those trends continued to rise on both sides with 35.7 attempts — second-most — while making them at a moderately improved rate of 35.6 percent.Considering the contributions that the Nets’ three major point guards made to those two-year totals — Spencer Dinwiddie (1.7 attempts/35.1 percent), Jeremy Lin (4.3/37.2) and D’Angelo Russell (1.9/32.4) — Napier should have the green light whenever possible.
During his rookie season with the Miami HEAT in 2014-15, Napier earned the closest amount of minutes to his average last year in Portland and made 36.4 percent of his three-pointers. So, it’s been a somewhat smaller sample size for the Massachusetts-born scorer, but there could be some unearthed potential for the Nets to mine.In the nine games that Napier started for the Trail Blazers last season, he averaged 16.1 points, 4.4 rebounds and 4.3 assists — including a stat-stuffing 21-point, eight-rebound, six-assist and two-block effort in a loss against the Atlanta Hawks. Beyond that, Napier tossed four or more assists on 12 occasions and made two or more three-pointers in 18 games as well.Give Napier minutes and he’ll make the most of them, that’s for sure.
“I think that’s one of the reasons why I chose here,” Napier said at his introductory press conference in July. “I felt like that was part of my game, positionless basketball, going up and down, getting the ball moving fast, being able to run to the corners and have somebody else handle the ball.“I don’t need to be on the ball. I proved that when I was in Portland. I think that’s the reason why Kenny and I came to terms understanding this was a great fit for me.”
If the majority of Napier’s minutes come next to a playmaker like Caris LeVert — who was forced into a facilitating role after those crucial injuries in 2017-18 — then the two would form a high-energy pairing with the second unit.
Spoiler:
[quote] Ed Davis
While Napier’s role may be undefined for now, Davis could be in line for a career year with the Nets. The 6-foot-10 big man averaged 5.3 points and 7.4 rebounds on 58.2 percent from the floor over 18.9 minutes per game. Stuck behind Jusuf Nurkic, Davis’ long-term potential was capped — just as it was for Napier — but the veteran has always been more than effective in his given role. Last season, Davis reached double-digits in rebounds on 20 occasions and topped out at 15 boards in only 26 minutes during a blowout victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Somehow, the efforts of Jarrett Allen (five), Dante Cunningham (two), Quincy Acy (one), Jahlil Okafor (one) and Timofey Mozgov (one) only combined to reach that double-digit plateau only 10 times last season — so, without a doubt, there’s a seamless, immediate role for Davis. Although Davis, 29, won’t slot in as the stretch forward the Nets have long searched for — he sports a career three-point attempt total of two — he’ll bring some much-needed fire to the Nets on the defensive end.
Perhaps unexpectedly, the Nets were fairly good at defending the three-point line last season. Although opponent three-point percentage ranked toward the bottom at 36.9, the Nets held teams to just 24.5 attempts per game, the lowest total in the entire league. With the Nets constantly trying to run shooters off the arc and toward the shot-altering presence of the aforementioned Allen, it seems obvious that another plus-defender like Davis will only benefit them.With Portland, opponents shot 43.6 percent against Davis in 2017-18 — the best mark on the roster. Nobody on the current roster, not even Allen (46 percent), came close to matching the new arrival in that regard for Brooklyn.
Additionally, the Nets allowed a massive average of 10.4 offensive rebounds per game last season, with many of those second chances leading directly to losses. Davis snagged 28.8 percent of all defensive rebounds available to him — by far a career-high — and should shore up Brooklyn’s often leaky efforts. On the flip side, the Nets tallied just 9.7 offensive rebounds of their own last year, with only Allen totaling two or more of them per game. During his final year with the Trail Blazers, Davis grabbed 2.3 per contest to go along with a convincing 13.7 OREB% — so there’s precedent here for him to help on both sides of the ball.
Either way, back in January, Lillard endorsed of Davis ahead of a potentially dangerous trade deadline.“I’m not just saying this to say it, but it don’t get no better than Ed. That’s just the truth.”
http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-daily-shabazz-napier-and-ed-davis-poised-for-success/
While Napier’s role may be undefined for now, Davis could be in line for a career year with the Nets. The 6-foot-10 big man averaged 5.3 points and 7.4 rebounds on 58.2 percent from the floor over 18.9 minutes per game. Stuck behind Jusuf Nurkic, Davis’ long-term potential was capped — just as it was for Napier — but the veteran has always been more than effective in his given role. Last season, Davis reached double-digits in rebounds on 20 occasions and topped out at 15 boards in only 26 minutes during a blowout victory over the Golden State Warriors.
Somehow, the efforts of Jarrett Allen (five), Dante Cunningham (two), Quincy Acy (one), Jahlil Okafor (one) and Timofey Mozgov (one) only combined to reach that double-digit plateau only 10 times last season — so, without a doubt, there’s a seamless, immediate role for Davis. Although Davis, 29, won’t slot in as the stretch forward the Nets have long searched for — he sports a career three-point attempt total of two — he’ll bring some much-needed fire to the Nets on the defensive end.
Perhaps unexpectedly, the Nets were fairly good at defending the three-point line last season. Although opponent three-point percentage ranked toward the bottom at 36.9, the Nets held teams to just 24.5 attempts per game, the lowest total in the entire league. With the Nets constantly trying to run shooters off the arc and toward the shot-altering presence of the aforementioned Allen, it seems obvious that another plus-defender like Davis will only benefit them.With Portland, opponents shot 43.6 percent against Davis in 2017-18 — the best mark on the roster. Nobody on the current roster, not even Allen (46 percent), came close to matching the new arrival in that regard for Brooklyn.
Additionally, the Nets allowed a massive average of 10.4 offensive rebounds per game last season, with many of those second chances leading directly to losses. Davis snagged 28.8 percent of all defensive rebounds available to him — by far a career-high — and should shore up Brooklyn’s often leaky efforts. On the flip side, the Nets tallied just 9.7 offensive rebounds of their own last year, with only Allen totaling two or more of them per game. During his final year with the Trail Blazers, Davis grabbed 2.3 per contest to go along with a convincing 13.7 OREB% — so there’s precedent here for him to help on both sides of the ball.
Either way, back in January, Lillard endorsed of Davis ahead of a potentially dangerous trade deadline.“I’m not just saying this to say it, but it don’t get no better than Ed. That’s just the truth.”
http://www.basketballinsiders.com/nba-daily-shabazz-napier-and-ed-davis-poised-for-success/
