Part 10 of a series analyzing the Brooklyn Nets.
After Rodions Kurucs’ impressive rookie season ended, the Nets felt they had a second-round steal. Now with his sophomore season suspended, there are questions about him — both on and off the court.
Kurucs’ play has been up-and-down along with his confidence, inconsistent in the wake of an alleged offseason incident. He was arrested Sept. 3 for allegedly choking his girlfriend in a June 27 spat in his Brooklyn apartment. He has faced legal woes since.
The young Latvian has been in and out of court, with his scheduled appearance on Monday adjourned by the coronavirus pandemic that has suspended the NBA season.
“The case was administratively adjourned,” Kurucs’ attorney, Alex Spiro, told The Post. “[A] new date will eventually be set.”
Kurucs has already had five court appearances for the misdemeanor assault charge. Sources told The Post he grabbed a knife and threatened to kill himself during the spat, before tossing his girlfriend on a bed and slapping her.
Spiro has denied the disturbing allegations. But whatever the legal outcome — and the courts are largely in a holding pattern, like the NBA — it’s obvious Kurucs wasn’t in the best headspace when the season started, with his off-court issues undermining his play.
“Yeah, for sure, of course. But yeah, now I’m ready,” Kurucs told The Post last month. “I’ve been working with a sports psychologist. I’ve been working with myself, trying to understand what [the Nets] want from me, what I should do … just read the game, make the right decision.”
It seemed to serve Kurucs well.
A timid player who spent the early part of the season second-guessing himself and hesitating to shoot suddenly became one of the hottest 3-point shooters in the NBA.
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Over the final three weeks of January, he hit a scalding 46.9 percent on 2.5 attempts per game from behind the arc. He broke out with a season-high 19 points on Jan. 10, hitting four of five from deep to help the Nets snap a seven-game losing skid with an impressive win over Miami.
“Last year he was a good shooter. He came in this year and was scared to shoot and everybody was like, ‘What happened?’ And when he finally started shooting, he couldn’t miss. And everybody was like, ‘Why didn’t you start a month ago?’ ” Spencer Dinwiddie asked rhetorically during Kurucs’ hot stretch.
“He was never a bad shooter, but he came in this season acting like he didn’t want to shoot. And we were like, ‘Bro, what are you doing?’ And when he finally unleashed the clip, he ain’t missed yet.”
But he did get shelved. From the time the calendar flipped to February, Kurucs only appeared in half of the 18 games before the coronavirus shutdown. He went from on fire to out of the rotation.
Many had higher hopes for Kurucs entering the season. Taken 40th overall in the 2018 draft, he was the lowest-drafted player to be named to the 2019 Rising Stars game during All-Star Weekend. And it wasn’t just individual play last season, but directly contributing much-needed energy, toughness and grit to the Nets.
The Nets were 36-27 when Kurucs played last season — and 28-18 when he started versus 14-22 when he didn’t.
But this season Kurucs’ NBA appearances dropped from 63 to 39, playing 10 times for Long Island after only playing four G-League tilts as a rookie. His scoring average has halved from 8.5 to 4.2, and his play has taken a hit. With two more seasons left in his rookie deal, the Nets will need to get Kurucs right to get the best out of him.