TAKEOVER: Egor Demin HEAT CHECK Seals Brooklyn Nets Win As Defense SMOTHERS Raptors

TAKEOVER: Egor Demin HEAT CHECK Seals Brooklyn Nets Win As Defense SMOTHERS Raptors

On today’s show, Jagor Deman comes up big, the Nets defense suffocates, and Nolan Troy enters the mix as the Nets take down the Raptors. I’ll offer my top takeaways from the game right now. [music] >> You are Locked on Nets, your daily [music] Brooklyn Nets podcast, part of the Locked On Network, your team every day. Welcome in to Locked on Nets right here on the Locked On Podcast Network. Now the number one sports podcast network. It’s your team, the Brooklyn Nets, every single day. I’m Eric Slater, Brooklyn Nets reporter for clutchpoints.com. Thank you for making me your first listen of the day. The show is 100% free on all those great platforms. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. If you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. And on today’s episode, I’m going to be recapping the Nets 9681 win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday at Barclay Center. And this continues a stretch of pretty efficient and pretty, you know, decent to I wouldn’t say high level, but solid Nets basketball that they’ve been playing over, you know, over a month now, over a month-long stretch. And the Nets were in control for most of this game. You know, the Raptors were on a second night of the backto-back. They lost to the Celtics in Toronto um on Saturday night, but this is still a Raptors team that is sixth in the Eastern Conference right now, and the Nets shut them down for most of the game. And once again, it was the defense just suffocating another opponent opponent. And then it was the shot making of guys like Jory, MPJ, Noah Clowny down the stretch taking it home. But the defense was the main thing. And that’s what I want to focus on is, you know, is this Net’s defense good or I would say even high level. I mean, that’s something that would have sounded crazy to say during the start of the season, but over, you know, the last 11 games, the Nets have the second best defense in the NBA. And in this one, they hold the Raptors to 81 points. That’s their lowest they’ve hold held any opponent since I think they held the Raptors to 81 points in February of last year. So, they hold them to 81 points. They hold them to 32 of 86 shooting. That’s 37%. And the defense has just done a complete 180. And I’m frankly I’ve talked about it on my last podcast or two podcasts ago when the Nets played the Heat and they shut them down offensively, but the Nets during their 0 and7 start had the worst defense in the NBA by miles. One of their worst defensive starts of all time. They had a 128.5 defensive rating during that 0 and7 start. And since then, they’re eight and 12 were their last 20 games, so near 500. And they have the NBA’s seventh best defense over that 20ame stretch. They have a 112 defensive ratings. Their defensive rating has improved 16.5 points from that 0 and7 start to their last 20 games. And over the last 11 games, as I said, it’s even more dramatic. I mean, they have the second best defense in the NBA. Over their last 11 games, they have 107 defensive rating. The only team in the NBA who’s better is the Oklahoma City Thunder. And yes, the Nets have benefited from a soft schedule during that span. But this is a Raptors team that like they’re not an offensive juggernaut, but they’re one of the better teams in the Eastern Conference right now. The Nets came out and they really overwhelmed them and the Raptors looked like they couldn’t get anything going. And I look at the biggest change that I’ve seen from that 0 and7 start with the Nets going from 128.5 defensive rating to 112 defensive rating. I think one of the big things is Cam Thomas leaving the lineup and the Nets are just very long now. I mean, you look at the rotation like they do not have an undersized guy. They do not have a glaring defensive liability in this rotation. I mean, every guy in their rotation besides Nolan Troy tonight is 6’6 or taller. And even Nolan is 6′, you know, four, 6′ 10 wingspan or 6’8 wingspan, something along those lines. But it’s just a lot of size, a lot of length. And the Nets have said, you know, during their 0 and7 start, I said they don’t have, you know, an elite point of attack defender. Like they don’t have a defensive stopper. And that’s still true. But I think that overall length, the overall size, it’s bothering teams and it really bothered the Raptors tonight. I mean, the Raptors had seven turnovers in the first quarter of this game. They cleaned it up as the game went on, but the the Nets are just in so many passing lanes. They’re in so many shooting windows, and I think that that’s really bothering a lot of teams. I mean, you look at this Raptors team tonight. I mean, the top player that they have, Scotty Barnes, he was completely invisible. He had six points on three of 10 shooting from the field, 0 of three from three, no free throw attempts. So the Nets are doing this against some decent, you know, to good competition now. And I would say that there’s a lot of guys who are making a big difference. Noah Clowny is one guy that I want to highlight because I think that he his defensive starts of the season left a lot to be desired and Jordan Fernandez challenged him and told him that he needed to be better and he has been better. I mean tonight he had two really big defensive stat categories. He had nine rebounds, which is huge because I had said that, you know, Nolan was one of the worst rebounding big man in the league to start the season. We’ve seen him get a lot better during this recent stretch. He also blocked two shots tonight. And with the aggressive defensive scheme that the Nets are playing, they’re relying a lot on those lowman rotations at the rim. And Noah has been one of the guys who’s doing that probably more than any other guy, and he’s really stepped that up as of late. So, he’s an example of, I think, just the engagement, the activity, the motor is much improved. Obviously Nick Claxton is playing a big role there, but I think overall the whole team when you look at the defensive start the Nets had. Like sure they have some limitations just in terms of like what they can do physically and things defensively with the personnel they have, but they were getting beat in transition. They were giving up advantages all over the court. They were getting guys singled out. You know, Cam Thomas was getting picked on sometimes as were a lot of other guys. You look at during this recent stretch, they’re cleaning it up in transition. They’re not getting beat down the court nearly as much. They’re taking some pride in guarding their yard and not getting beat one-on-one, which is a big deal. And then they just have so much more length in the passing lanes, in shooting windows. I think that it’s playing a really big difference. And I think that, you know, this Net’s defense, it’s a testament to Jordy Fernandez and this coaching staff, as it is the players. But I asked Jordy after the game about it. Jordy said, you know, the coaches have really taken it upon themselves to, you know, break down this scheme, simplify it, get a real solid understanding amongst the players of what they’re trying to do and then repping it out in drills and practice and the players look a lot more comfortable. I mean, there was a lot of moving pieces with what the Nets were trying to do defensively in the beginning of the year with them, you know, putting two to the ball or playing their big man at the level and then you have to scram switch and rotate on the back end. You have to scramble and do all this stuff. It’s just a lot of moving, a lot of moving pieces. Whereas in the beginning of the season, their desire was lacking and also their understanding of the defensive scheme was lacking, now the desire has improved tenfold and they look like they have a much better grasp on what they’re trying to do defensively. So all of that has played a big role and it’s, you know, that’s played a huge role in the Nets being, you know, more competitive as of late and in this one. But what closed it out was the Nets offensively, they had they hit some big shots down the stretch of this game. I mean, the Raptors were threatening down the stretch, but then a bunch of guys hit big shots. I mean, MPJ had 24 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, nine of 18 from the field, four of eight from three. That’s just like a normal performance from MPJ at this point. Like 24 points, shoots 50% from the field, 50% from three, near double digit rebounds, you know, five assists. Like that’s not an uncommon performance. That’s close to like the baseline of what MPJ is doing, which, you know, I think speaks to what a high level he’s playing at. Noah Clowny also had a rough start. had a really rough 0 of9 shooting game against the Heat, but tonight bounces back. 19 points, as I said, nine rebounds, two assists, two blocks, was four of eight from three. And then Jagor Gman was the guy who really took over down the stretch of this game because the Raptors were threatening. They came back, they made a run at the end of the third quarter, and then they actually went up by two with 10 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. And then Jagorman took over. He hit the biggest shots of the game. He hit three fourth quarter threes, really deep ones. And the Nets went on a 17 to4 run after the Raptors took that two-point lead and they completely took control of the game. But Jagor hit a three to give the Nets the lead. He hit a three to extend the lead. And then down the stretch, he hit another three to even further elongate the lead. And these were like some pretty tough shots. Like the first two threes that Jagor hit, these were pull-up threes off the dribble from like four or five feet behind the three-point line. And then he hit a corner three. And this is something that we’re seeing with Jagger. He’s shown a knack for hitting some big shots and big moments. He obviously had that huge three in the Cavs game the Nets lost in the beginning of the season. He had a a big three against the Magic in Orlando to give the Nets the lead. He had a huge three uh in Boston when the Nets won that game to give them the lead with I think like four or five minutes left in the game. And there’s a few other games. But Jaor is like showing that he can be a guy who’s not afraid of the moment at least from a shot making standpoint. I think that for a rookie, a 19year-old, that is a really big deal. But that wasn’t the only thing that Jaor did in this one. I mean, he finishes with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists, four turnovers. We need to clean that up. But six of 10 from the field, and four of eight from three. He was a plus 24 in 30 minutes. And the entire Nets, the Nets starting lineup, they absolutely demolished the Raptor starters. I mean, you look at it. The Nets were MPJ plus 26, Noah Clowny plus 28, Nick Claxton plus 17, Terrence Van plus 28, Jorman plus 24, and then every guy coming off the bench was a negative plus minus. But the starters absolutely killed it. And I think that Jaor showed some really good stuff in this one. He showed some flashes of some three-level scoring stuff. Like he was four of eight from three, hit three in the fourth quarter. That’s really big after a one for four star to, you know, come in and hit three of four in the fourth quarter. Like really nice to see the confidence there. And also he made both of his two-point attempts. You’d like to see him, you know, get downhill, have some more two-point attempts, but he had a nice drive where he kind of drove, initiated a little bit of contact and finished with like a fading like baby hook at the rim for a layup. That was nice. He came up off the pick and roll in one. They were in a drop. He pulled up, hit a mid-range jumper. That was nice to see. And then the three-point shooting. I mean, Jaor at this point, he started off really hot. He cooled off and then he’s kind of come back to like a median over this last extended stretch. But Jagor’s shooting over 35% from three on 11.5 three-point attempts per 100 possessions. So, the volume is extremely high and he’s shooting at for a rookie, I would say, a very good level. And just this fourth quarter are, you know, games that show that he or stretches or moments that show that he can shoot it at a really high level and he can shoot with confidence because he was hitting really, really deep tough threes in a big moment there to give the Nets control of this game. And if you continue to shoot like this from three, like I’ve said, I feel like that’s going to give him the floor that you’re looking for because he’ll be able to do some stuff on the ball and then also he’ll be able maybe you can slide him to the wing and maybe that’s his position long term. But if he can be a, you know, good three-point shooter and then like a connective playmaker and he can do some of that stuff and then you’re looking for just like the on ball stuff to come come along a little bit as he progresses. That’ll turn him into a functional like good NBA player. The ceiling is going to depend on can he get a little bit more comfortable driving? Can he like get a little bit more comfortable finishing around the rim? Can he kind of gain some craft of how to generate his own advantages in order to let his playmaking shine? That’s going to be the stuff that dictates the ceiling. But I think the three-point shooting has been really nice to see. We’re seeing some more stuff that he’s trying to do on the ball getting downhill in terms of some three-level scoring flashes. So overall, just a positive performance from Jaor. And I think a really nice, you know, fourth quarter showing from him to show that he wasn’t scared of the moment in this one. But another guy who wasn’t scared of the moment was Nolan Troy, who got his first extended NBA run in nearly two months. And Nolan, I think, put together a really positive performance and one that I think maybe could keep him up with Brooklyn for an extended period. So, what did I see from him? What should fans be looking for from Nolan moving forward? I’ll get into all that when I continue locked on Nets after a quick break. Guys, nobody knows your money goals better than you. Robin Hood puts you in control of your money with tools that work as hard as you do. Locking in on every opening, beating your PR, beating it again. Channel that drive into your money. Robin Hood puts you in control of your money. Trade stocks and ETFs, options, futures, and crypto all on one platform. You can now build and execute your own trades from a desktop with Robin Hood’s Legends Advanced Tools. Or take advantage of the new Robin Hood strategies with the tailored portfolio managed by a team of experts. You expect more from yourself. Expect more from your money, too. Get started today at robinhood.com/yyourmoney. Again, that’s robinhood.com/yyoumoney. Your money, your move. Coming back from the break, continuing today’s lockdown Nets episode, recapping Brooklyn’s 9681 win over the Raptors. And I want to hit on Nolan Troy now because Nets fans had been waiting for Troy to get his extended opportunity. Nolan had been somewhat of a mystery man for this Nets team early this season or at least a mystery rookie because you know we saw him play a little bit during the preseason and then he played like a couple of exper a couple of early appearances in the NBA but not really and then he was mostly in the G-League and you thought maybe during a recent NBA callup that he had last week that he was going to get his extended NBA audition but he didn’t. He got sent back down but then Drake Pal injured his ankle and was ruled out for this game. So Nolan comes back up and he does get the extended opportunity. And I thought that it was a positive performance from Nolan overall. And Nolan has been killing it in the G-League. You know, over his last uh 10 games before this, he was at like 20 points, seven assists, over 50% shooting from the field and three. And he comes up now and he finally gets his extended run with this uh Nets team. He played 22 minutes in this one. He had played 21 minutes during a game against the Raptors earlier this season in Houston, but that was a blowout. And in this one, he looked pretty comfortable and he looked pretty confident. He finishes with eight points, three rebounds, two assists, one turnover, three of nine from the field, one of four from three. He was a minus 7 in 22 minutes. And I know that that might not sound like a glowing stat line, but I think overall Nolan did not look out of place at all in this one. He looked comfortable, especially handling the ball. He looked comfortable initiating offense against a Raptors team that does have some highle backourt defenders. You talk about guys, you know, like Grady Dick, Ochi Aabaji, even Emanuel Quickley, like these guys are no slouches. Obviously, Scotty Barnes, like this is a big physical Raptors team. And Nolan looked comfortable. And that was one of the things that I was a little bit question I was questioning with Nolan was, you know, he’s 6’4. He has good length, but he’s a little bit slighter. Like he’s the smallest of the Nets rookies in terms of his frame, his height obviously. And I think that in this one, like he looked a little bit more comfortable than he did in his previous NBA appearances. And overall, I think you saw the ball handling and you saw the speed. Like, he had some plays where he turned the corner and he got downhill and he was able to score. And there’s no other player on this Net’s roster who can get downhill the way he can. He had a play, you know, early in the game where he got a step and he was able to finish through like a little bit of a kind of like a shove and he finished with a right-handed running like layup. And then he had another play in the second half where he just ripped through and blew by a guy and went downhill and finished at the cup. He took the threes when he was open. He only hit one of four, but overall I think it was positive. I mean, he hit a pull-up three with the Raptors in drop coverage. Showed a lot of confidence with that one. He had a few other ones that were online, hit back rim, and then they came off. But I think that overall he just showed some poise in this one. I mean, he played, you know, 19 minutes, had one turnover. He was handling the ball a fair amount, and he did a really good job on some plays of getting into the paint and then kicking out to the perimeter, finding guys for open three-point shots. He handled in the pick and roll. He didn’t turn the ball over. He looked comfortable. So, overall, I think a positive performance from Nolan. He’s a guy who like he struggled, you know, in a big way during the preseason. He looked really out of sync during his first, you know, few brief appearances early in the season with the Nets in the NBA. He looked out of sync in his first few G-League appearances. He did not look comfortable and he was playing, you know, pretty poorly. But since then, it’s done a complete 180 and he’s turned it around. And, you know, he I spoke to Jordy Fernandez after the game and I asked him what he think what he thought of Nolan’s performance and he said that, you know, I think that he thought Nolan looked comfortable. thought Nolan looked confident and he said that he thought that the time in Long Island played a really big role in that. And I want to play you the quote from Jordy. Here’s what he had to say. >> He looked confident. He looked in rhythm. He shot it when he had to. Uh he was solid with the ball. He played pick and roll. He was he looked fast. He kept defensively the ball in front. Uh you know, quickly is a very good player and fast and he kept him in front. I know he got called for the foul at the end, but he did a great job overall. uh looked like all the minutes he’s played in Long Island right now are paying off and now he you know like came here with a lot of confidence and this is what’s all about is minutes are the best um you know the best uh coach to develop you and he took advantage of those minutes in Long Island and now he’s taking advantage of this minutes here and he was a big part of us winning this this game. So that’s a quote and I think that that is pretty noteworthy what Jordy had to say there of Nolan needed that time in Long Island and it’s like I think Nets fans get a little frustrated when some guys are down in Long Island. I understand it because the Nets are still a tanking team. Like they’re still one of the worst teams in the league and you want all of these rookies to be getting extended NBA minutes, but the G-League can be beneficial, especially for a guy like Nolan Troy who’s a little bit smaller, needs to gain some of his confidence. And you heard Jordy there like minutes are the best remedy. And sure, you’d like to see all of these guys get all of the minutes in the NBA, but the Nets do have five rookies and they have a lot of veterans. And Drake Pal getting hurt here, it gave Nolan that opportunity to get in. for those minutes down in Long Island for a guy like, you know, Danny Wolf obviously got a lot of them. Nolan Shroy got a lot of them. Ben Saraf is down there getting a lot of them right now. Like that is a positive just to have those guys playing and getting acclimated because while the G-League is a big step down in competition, it’s still a step up from what these guys were seeing previously. So, you know, letting those guys get extended minutes, extended run, extended reps down there in a system that is very, you know, similar to what the Nets are trying to do. There’s a lot of collaboration between the Nets coaching staff and Long Island’s coaching staff. Jordy says like they’re one big club and they want all of that to be kind of synergistic between the two clubs. So that is a big deal and I think getting those minutes down there obviously did a lot for Nolan’s confidence and you know we’ll see if he stays up and gets extended NBA run because I mean Ben Saraf was getting opportunities obviously as a backup point guard during a recent fivegame stretch. He seems like he’s going to be spending an extended period down in Long Island. He probably needs to and I think that’ll be beneficial for him. But now Drake Pal has this ankle injury and even if Drake Pal’s healthy, I think that Nolan’s a guy who you can give extended run to for a little bit of an extended runway here. See like what can he do? If he looks comfortable like this for an extended period, you can leave him up here. Maybe you send him back down. But like overall getting reps is the biggest thing. Games played is the biggest thing. And Jordy has said that 60 games between the NBA and the G-League, that’s the goal. But I think with with the way that Nolan Troy played tonight, the comfort that he showed against a Raptors team that is not a like terrible team by any stretch of the imagination, I think that that should warrant an extended opportunity. So, I’m excited to see what he’ll do there moving forward. But this Nets team, they’re playing, you know, pretty decent basketball for over a month now, month and a half, and it is throwing a wrench into the tank conversation as that, you know, stretch to start the season did last year. So, what am I seeing from that? How do I think the Nets could navigate how they’re tanking in the coming weeks? And also, we got a Cam Thomas update. So, I’ll dive into all that and what fans should be expecting when I close out Lockdown Nets after a quick break. Guys, NFL Sundays move fast. One big play and suddenly everything feels different. That’s what makes live betting with FanDuel so exciting. You’re not just watching the game, you’re reacting to it in real time. With FanDuel, you can place bets as the action unfolds. Every drive, every momentum swing, every highlight moment. Live betting is best when the game starts to shift. A receiver gets hot, a defense tightens up or the momentum flips after a turnover. FanDuel let you jump into the moment instantly. Live spreads and money lines adjust instantly. So, you can bet on it whatever direction you’re feeling. Maybe you’re watching Giants Raiders next week. The battle for the number one pick. You’re really, you know, pulling for the Giants to lose that one and get the number one pick. You can bet on the Raiders live. Player props update as guys heat up. You can bet over rushing yards, over receiving yards, over passing yards, receptions, rushes, all that stuff. You can bet next touchdown scorers, drive results, totals, and more. It keeps you locked into every snap, every drive, every possibility. So, if you want to be right in the middle of the action this season, visit fanuel.com and place your NFL live bets all season long. FanDuel, the game moves fast and so can you. Coming back from the break, closing out today’s locked on Nets episode and I want to talk about where the Nets are at in the tank conversation. And I don’t want to start it off after a win talking about the tank. I know some fans don’t like it, but there’s also a lot of fans who I’m seeing replies to my recent, you know, comments on my recent YouTube, on my recent podcast, you know, comments on Twitter who are concerned about the tank. And I understand why because Nets looked 0 and they were 0 and seven. You know, they looked like they were cruising to probably one of the worst, you know, two records in the league in those top two spots in the draft lottery standings. And then since then, it’s done a complete 180. And as I said, Nets are eight and 12 over the last month and a half. And they’re at nearly an even net rating during that span. They’re a negative0.8 net rating, 19th in net rating. So, I’ve said it in recent games, like sure, the Nets had been playing a soft schedule. But even with that, I’ve been saying the Nets have not looked like one of the worst teams in the league for most of the season now. At this point, they’ve looked like an average team. You know, 19th in net rating over the last 20 games. And you look at it, this is now five wins in eight games for them. and they are losing ground in the draft lottery standings. And you thought that they had, you know, that six game stretch where they went 4-2 right before this and all six of those games were against sub 500 opponents. And now they have a stretch where five of their six opponents are above 500. And you thought that, okay, like they could go 0 and six here and that could really get them back into the mix in the draft lottery standings. And that could still happen. But the Nets play the Miami Heat pretty tight. I mean, they obviously like fall apart down the stretch there and they can’t find the offense. But defensively, they overwhelm the Heat in that game. And in this game, they take a Raptors team that’s six in the Eastern Conference and they were in control for the vast majority of the game. So, you know, I think the Nets will have some more losses coming up here, but, you know, 8 and 12 over a 20ame stretch. Like, they’re not a terrible team. Like, they’re they’re not good. I’d say they’re a bad team, but like they’re hovering around average right now. And with that, you look at the draft lottery standings and they’ve fallen two and a half games back of the Pacers and Kings who are tied for second. They’re two games back of the Pelicans who are in fourth and then the Los Angeles Clippers are in fifth who you would hope would get ahead of them. But I’ve said like the most likely spot for the Nets right now in the draft lottery standings is looking like, you know, fourth or fifth, maybe even sixth like they were last season. And frankly, like I just think that that would be a disaster for them. Like sure they can get lucky in the lottery. you like it’s the odds are flatten and all that, but this is a season where the Nets showed a pretty clear, you know, way that they were going about things going into the season with, you know, all rookie point guards like some of the ways that they navigated the offseason. The quote that we got from Joe’s side, like may make no doubt about it, this is a tanking season, but once again, Jordy Fernandez, he’s maximizing a guy like Michael Porter Jr., he’s getting a lot more defensively out of this group than I thought he was going to when the season started. So, he’s coaching his way, you know, back into the Nets being a respectable team. And with that, they’re going to face some of the decisions. And I see like some fans say like you don’t need to like operate in a tanking like mindset, you know, from the for the rest of the season. Like go about it how you go about it. Let the draft pick fall where it lands. But, you know, the Nets being back in the sixth spot in the draft lottery standings or the fifth spot and their most likely spot being, you know, sixth, seventh or eighth, that would be a really tough pill to swallow for the second straight year, especially when the Nets traded, you know, four first round picks to get their 2025 and 2026 first round picks back. I think at a certain point, you need to show some urgency. Like, you need to kind of put your money where your mouth is. The Nets didn’t do it last season. They held on to guys like Cam Johnson, Dennis Shruder, Dorian Finny Smith. And now you get into this season, there’s a lot of guys who could, you know, who are really elevating the floor of this Nets team who should be easily movable and would bolster your Nets tank, you know, significantly if you were to move them. I mean, Michael Porter Jr. is a guy the Nets are going to face a decision on, I think, in the coming months. And if they keep playing like this, I’m not saying you don’t trade him for peanuts, like I’ve said that on prior pods, but I think that if you removed him from this equation, the Nets would have a very, very good shot of getting into the top three of those draft lottery standings because the the bottom is completely going to fall to the offense. So, with the Nets being eight and 12 over the last 20 games with them having one of the better defenses in the NBA with Michael Porter Jr. playing at an all-star level. I think that there’s a lot that isn’t working in their favor right now in the tank conversation. All of that can trade with one move. You know, one move could completely change that. So, I’m not saying the Nets have to do that, but it’s something that they definitely need to consider. And last thing I want to close this out on is we got a Cam Thomas update. Cam has been out since November 5th with that left hamstring strain. Same hamstring he strained three times last season. And Cam participated in a five on five scrimmage on Saturday. That’s that is what Jordy Fernandez told us. And Jordy gave us this quote about Cam’s progress. He said, “He looked really good and he’s going to continue to do that until we feel he’s ready to go. It’s just a matter of when. We’re not targeting a specific date. We want to see how he feels, then go to the next session, see how he feels again, and then keep building from there. The number one priority is him and his body, and whenever he’s ready to help the team, he will.” So, camp participated. It’s in five on- five scrimmage. He made it through that, you know, with no setback, you know, apparently. And then Jordy said, “But the Nets aren’t targeting a specific date for him, and it doesn’t sound like there’s a whole lot of urgency to bring him back into the lineup.” And that’s not surprising. And I just I’m not sure how likely it is, even though Cam is trending in the right direction, that he’s going to be back in this next lineup because I spoke about it on my last pod, just like like I said before, like they’re trying to find minutes for guys like Nolan, Troy, all the rest of these guys. The way they’re playing, it looks much improved. Like the only reason I could really see Cam coming back into the lineup that makes sense is if it’s like a stealth tank move and you think that he would improve the tank a little bit, but I don’t think that’s really how the Nets are operating right now. And I just think with the way they’re playing with guys like, you know, Jorman, Nolan Troy getting more opportunities. You know, Drake Pal when he was healthy, obviously Noah Clowny has broken out since Cam Thomas was out of the lineup. just doesn’t really feel like, you know, from a chemistry standpoint or from just like a sheer minutes standpoint that there’s really a reason for him to come back into the lineup. And I think that’s why you heard in that quote that Jordan Fernandez gave, it was pretty ambiguous. Like they’re not saying that like, oh, Cam progressed to five on five, he’s going to be, you know, taking this net step soon and then he’s going to be back in the lineup in the coming like week or so. Like that’s not the way the Nets are phrasing it. And I think that we’re probably seeing the Nets can this the trade market maybe work with Cam Thomas’ representation over the coming weeks to find a deal because it just doesn’t make that much sense for him to come back into the lineup. And I think that Jord’s quote and you know maybe I’m reading too much into Jord’s quote, but it just didn’t feel like a quote where it was like, okay, like we’re in a rush to get him back. It seems like the Nets are kind of playing it like they’re playing it out. They’re letting him like get fully healthy. And I think that we could see in the coming weeks some reports about him, about the Nets and Cam and his representation maybe working to find a trade that makes sense for them. So, we’ll see how that plays out with Cameron. That’s all I got for you guys on today’s episode of Locked on Nets. If you guys do not already, make sure to subscribe to Locked on Nets on YouTube and wherever you get your podcast, whether Apple podcast or Spotify. If you enjoy the content, take a second, smash that like button, leave a comment, leave a fivestar review. Anything you can do to engage is much appreciated. And that’s got one day off. Then they got the the 76ers on Tuesday. I’ll be in Philly for that. But I’ll have coverage of all that and more when I’m back tomorrow talking more Brooklyn Mets basketball.

Erik Slater reacts to the Brooklyn Nets’ win over the Toronto Raptors, analyzing the team’s dramatic defensive improvement, Egor Demin’s fourth-quarter takeover, Nolan Troare’s return to the lineup, and more.

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