The only expectation for the Nets next year is there aren’t any.
This week’s blockbuster trade of Mikal Bridges to the rival Knicks made that clear.
The Nets are tearing it down.
Other established players could get moved.
They’re starting over.
They have stockpiled draft picks with the hopes of hitting home runs in the years to come the traditional way.
Nevertheless, it does open up opportunities for young players, especially because the Nets didn’t have any draft picks this year.
We’re looking at you, Noah Clowney and Dariq Whitehead.
The team’s two first-round picks a year ago, selected 21st and 22nd, respectively, figure to get plenty of time next season to prove themselves.
A multi-talented 6-foot-9 forward out of Alabama, Clowney averaged 5.8 points, 3.5 rebounds and shot 36.4 percent from 3-point range in 23 games.
He showed flashes of potential in April once his minutes increased, notching 12.1 points, 6.4 rebounds and 1.9 blocks.
With the Nets bringing back Nic Claxton on a four-year, $100 million deal, they hope they have two building blocks for the future in the two young forwards.
There’s much less of a body of work with Whitehead, the one-and-done standout from Duke.
He appeared in just two games with the Nets totaling 24 minutes.
Whitehead was not supposed to have a role last year, as he was coming off an injury-marred season in Durham that significantly lowered his draft stock.
The highly regarded 6-foot-7 wing was coming off two surgeries on his troublesome right foot to repair a fifth metatarsal Jones fracture.
He appeared in 17 games with the G League affiliate, the Long Island Nets, producing 8.8 points in 18.6 minutes, before his season ended in late January due to left shin surgery.
“Dariq should play in summer league, should be available in summer league. Whether or not he plays the entire summer league or not, that’ll be TBD,” general manager Sean Marks said in late April during the introductory press conference for new coach Jordi Fernandez. “But the plan right now is he’s in the gym every day.”
Watching Clowney and Whitehead in the summer league could give Nets fans at least some optimism for the future at a time when there isn’t much of it.
And it also will enable Fernandez to see what he’s working with.
He seemed to be looking forward to coaching this young group, though that was before the Bridges deal.
“The youth excites me,” Fernandez said recently. “Like I said before, when you have a young roster — and talented — that means that you’re going to have those guys for a long time. … So, you can develop them and then, they can perform at their best. And they’re here with you, so that’s extremely exciting, the flexibility that we’ll have, the resources that we have, right? We have a first class-owner, we have a first class management group, front office.”
There is so much work to do for the Nets to matter again.
It’s safe to say, though, that the Nets’ young players will get extended chances to show what they can do next season.
Whitehead and Clowney are at the top of that list.
