Coney Island native Isaiah Whitehead played a lot at combo guard for his hometown Nets last year as a rookie, partly by default. He won’t have that luxury this season.
The backcourt is far healthier and more crowded than last season, when the Nets’ struggled to an NBA-worst 20-62 mark. That means Whitehead — who logged surprising playing time as a second-round pick last season — will have to work even harder to even come close to replicating those minutes.
“Yeah, [I will],” Whitehead admitted to The Post. “I think that’s the NBA, though. Going into training camp and going into the season, everyone just fights for minutes. I’m up for the challenge. I’m a competitor. Whatever I’ve got to do to get on the court, I’m going to try it.”
He’ll have to keep up the rugged defense, and play better on the offensive end of the court than he did in Tuesday’s preseason opening 115-107 win over the Knicks.
Whitehead averaged 22.5 minutes over 73 games as a rookie, even starting 26 of them. But that was with the Nets strapped at point guard, thanks to Jeremy Lin’s hamstrings, Greivis Vasquez’s injury buyout and Spencer Dinwiddie’s in-season arrival from the D-League. Since then, they have gone from a dearth to a logjam at the position.
Lin and newcomer D’Angelo Russell will get the lion’s share of minutes playing on the ball, with coach Kenny Atkinson saying Tuesday that Dinwiddie likely will be the third guard. The Nets still have holdover off-guards Joe Harris, Sean Kilpatrick and Caris LeVert. And though newcomer Allen Crabbe is more of a small forward than a shooting guard, his minutes there would take them away from LeVert.
“Yeah, I think it’s definitely a luxury to [Atkinson],” Whitehead said. “But it’s just about us competing every day, just going at each other trying to get each other better. And that’s about it, just keep competing for minutes and hopefully you get some.”
Whitehead will get some, but almost certainly not as many as last year.
“Right now he’s competing and we’re going to let it play out, see how it goes and give these guys minutes. But no doubt there’s just more competition for those wing positions,” Atkinson said. “With Caris and Allen out right now, the minutes are there. But when they’re back, you do the math. We’re going to have to figure out. We just can’t play everybody. There’s not enough minutes.”
Both Crabbe and LeVert, missed Tuesday’s win with sprained ankles. Against the Knicks, Harris logged a little over 25 minutes, Dinwiddie 22:10 and Kilpatrick 19:01 — all more than Whitehead.
The Lincoln High School and Seton Hall product got just 17:21, with 12:22 of that coming after Russell and Lin both checked out for good midway through the third quarter. And given his playing time, he struggled mightily, going 0-for-6 from the floor, missing both free-throw attempts, and committing four fouls.
“Yeah, I felt like they sped him up. They put pressure on him and they sped him up a little, and he had a few turnovers,” Atkinson said. “But that being said, coming out of … training camp, I thought he had a great camp. So I’m not going to take that one game [and overreact].
“I thought [Tuesday] he did a good job defending, really good in the pick-and-roll defense. I’m an Isaiah Whitehead fan. I think he’s going to be a really good player.… But yeah, he’s fighting for minutes, like a lot of the wings are, wings and guards.”
LeVert and Crabbe aren’t in that fight, sitting out practice Wednesday in advance of Thursday’s preseason home opener against the Heat, which both are expected to miss. Whitehead should be in line for more minutes again, knowing defense will buy him playing time and Atkinson has faith in his jumper.
“[My shot] is great. It’s much better than last year. You can’t hit every shot. Coach tells me to keep shooting and keep shooting; he trusts in it,” Whitehead said. “It’s just about keep getting as much reps as possible every day and keep trying to get better.”