Evan Habeeb-US Presswire
The new look Brooklyn Nets now have an interesting set of players that can catapult them to a top three seed in the East. Their back court seems set with Deron Williams and Joe Johnson manning the one and the two. Their front court is also interesting as they have Brook Lopez and Kris Humphries in the five and the four. Rounding out their starting five is defensive specialist Gerald Wallace.
Their starting five seems set but their bench is a little thin. By the signing of Andray Blatche and Josh Childress, the Nets have picked up two intriguing players with different skill sets. Blatche is an interesting player in the sense that he could be that scoring punch of the bench that the Nets sorely needs. He can be a head case though which is why he was let go by the Washington Wizards despite being at the relatively young age of 26. He has also gained the reputation of making poor decisions on and off the court, but the presence of Johnson and Williams could hopefully keep his attitude in check.
Mark J. Rebilas
Childress is another player that the team picked up with an non-guaranteed minimum contract. He is certain though that he can win the back-up position at small forward. Childress is another player who has failed to live up to his potential after a relatively strong college career. The expectations for Childress will be relatively tame as he struggled to get playing time with the Phoenix Suns the past two years. But if he can show some of the skills that made him a sixth pick in the 2004 Draft, then he should be a valuable pick-up on a Nets team that is becoming more dangerous by the day.
Both Blatche and Childress are low risk, high reward pick-ups that could definitely help the team. They are also just one-year minimums so if they don’t work out, they can let them go at the end of the 2012-13 season. In the end, both players are good enough to make a significant impact and they could be the difference between a sixth seed and a third or fourth seed in the East.
