Debby Wong – USA Today Sports Images
Trading for Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce obviously put the Brooklyn Nets in the mix as a potential contender for the 2013-2014 NBA season. However, with the age of both Pierce and Garnett, the Nets know that they are going to have to take preventative measures with both players to keep them healthy for the full 82-game season and into the playoffs.
New head coach Jason Kidd has revealed what his plan with Garnett is possibly going to be in the upcoming season. Mike Mazzeo of ESPN New York quoted Kidd as saying, “When you look at KG, probably no back-to-backs, but those are just topics right now that are being thrown around.” Obviously that means Kidd’s plan isn’t set in stone, but it seems like a plausible and likely option.
The Nets have 20 sets of back-to-backs scheduled for this season. If Kidd holds true to his speculation about sitting Garnett out on the second night of back-to-backs, that would mean Garnett could potentially miss 20 games this year.
Garnett is 37 years old so he undoubtedly needs to have his minutes limited. However, sitting him out on the second game of every back-to-back doesn’t exactly make a whole lot of sense, especially considering the fact that this is a team with title aspirations. Sitting him out on the second game of 10-12 back-to-backs makes much more sense for this team.
Garnett is going to be an enormous part of any success this team has. He will serve to solidify the Nets at the power forward, a position where they struggled to get consistency from last season. There’s no question they need to keep him healthy and energized when the playoffs come, but they also don’t want to overdo it with resting him. Kidd’s initial plan is alright, but he needs to tweak it slightly before he puts it into action.
Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20, add him on Google and like his Facebook page.
