Bojan Bogdanovic
Bogdanovic had two games this week, one on Thursday and one on Sunday. He struggled in the game on Thursday, posting a season-low of three points with 1-6 shooting. He came back strong on Sunday, however, scoring 18 points on 7-11 shooting, including going 4-5 from behind the arc.
Bojan is currently averaging 12.2 points per game on 48.3% shooting. He’s a guy that I think will make an impact when he does eventually join the Nets, or a certain Florida team that he may be traded to for a franchise center. He has the ability to score points efficiently and he’s proving to be a worthy asset for the Nets come next season.
The Barclays Center
Erik Ortiz from AM New York commented on the fact that the Barclays Center will be “tourist attraction” for visitors to the Brooklyn area. The $1 billion arena will hopefully be seen as another “jewel in the crown of Brooklyn” when all is said and done.
It’s also come out that the games played at the Barclays Center will be visible from the street. Daniel Geiger from the New York Observer wrote that the Barclays Center will be the first NBA arena where games can actually be seen partially from street side in front of the stadium. Bruce Ratner dishes a lot of information about the Nets’ new arena in the interview conducted by Geiger.
As for a photo update, the Barclays Center construction is coming along swimmingly. This is the up-to-date version of the where the Nets will be playing next season:
Yup, looks awesome.
Injuries
On Monday, the Nets good luck with feet continued and MarShon Brooks went down with a broken right pinky toe. His return is still unknown at this point, but since the news broke, Brooks has tweeted the following regarding his progress: “Ok good…be back soon :)” (Monday), “Be back in no time!!!” (Thursday) and “Treatment at 10” (Friday), so it looks like MarShon is anxious to get back on the court and hoping to do so as soon as possible.
Brook Lopez ran for the first time since his foot surgery on Tuesday, but a timetable for his return also remains to be seen. On Thursday, Brook also skipped rope, ran and did some jumping. Avery Johnson stated that Lopez is probably going to be returning closer to the eight-week side of six-to-eight-week estimated time of return given to him after the surgery.
The Nets are also without DeShawn Stevenson who has a sore right knee. His progress will be reevaluated two weeks from February 1st (February 15th) and will hopefully be back on the court soon.
Mehmet Okur will be out for a few more games with back pain. Look for this to be, as it’s already proven to be, a recurring problem for Okur. A 6’11” big man’s chronic back problems are not just going to disappear, unfortunately. The Nets will bring him back as soon as he is ready.
Draft Picks
The Nets currently post a 8-17 record and are three games out of a playoff spot. Therefore, if the season ended today, the Nets would still be in lottery pick territory. They have the fifth-worst record in the NBA right now, which would put them at an 7.6% chance of the first pick. The Rockets post a 13-11 record right now, which would give them a lottery pick if the season ended today, as well as protect that pick from trade.
Chad Ford posted his first lottery mock draft, and has the Nets taking Baylor’s Perry Jones at #5.
That’s all for now! Stay tuned for more asset news next Monday.
