NBA Brooklyn Nets

Predicting the Brooklyn Nets’ Final 2014-15 Roster

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By @Bigwoolf5

Brooklyn Nets

David Butler-USA Today Sports

After an offseason of a lot of turmoil, including the Jason Kidd fiasco, the Brooklyn Nets have finished up their preseason schedule and are ready to start the regular season next Wednesday against the Boston Celtics. There have been a few changes and some fresh faces with the team, and it is now time to predict who will make the 15-man roster.

Let’s start with the four guaranteed starters, Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Kevin Garnett and Brook Lopez. Those are the four cornerstones of this year’s team and they are certainly being paid like it. The fifth starter is unknown at this point, as head coach Lionel Hollins has been trying different guys at the starting wing opposite Johnson.

The options for the fifth starting spot are Bojan Bogdanovic, Andrei Kirilenko, Alan Anderson and Jarrett Jack, all of whom are also locks to make the roster. Odds are that Jack will not start because the Nets need him to anchor the second unit, where he will be a huge piece for them this year.

The other two locks that have yet to be mentioned are Mason Plumlee and Mirza Teletovic. Those two will round out the probable 10-man rotation Hollins will use. That’s a total of 10 players so far, and now this is where the decision making happens.

Sergey Karasev was acquired by the Nets in the same trade they acquired Jack, and the Nets are high on him. He is a 20-year-old 6-foot-7 shooting guard the Nets want to develop in an effort to get younger, so he gets the 11th spot.

Marquis Teague is similar to Karasev in that he is very young at 21 years old. The Nets acquired him from the New Orleans Pelicans last season, and they like the former Kentucky Wildcat even though he has some developing to do. Teague gets the 12th spot.

The 13th and 14th spots go to two rookies the Nets traded into the draft for. Cory Jefferson and Markel Brown were both late second-round picks but the Nets liked them enough to pay for those picks. Brooklyn really likes the athleticism Brown brings to the team, and they like Jefferson’s ability to be gritty and rebound.

The final spot comes down to journeyman Jerome Jordan, Willie Reed and Jorge Gutierrez. I’m picking Jordan to make the team over the other two for a couple of reasons. First of all, Jordan has had a good preseason including one game where he scored 17 points by making all seven of his field goal attempts. The other reason is the Nets want as much frontcourt depth as possible considering Lopez’s injury history and Garnett’s advanced age. Gutierrez was a contributor for Brooklyn last year, but he and Reed are the odd men out this year as Brooklyn begins their season.

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