Brooklyn has its center of the future in Jarrett Allen. He’s athletic, a strong rim protector, and got the Nets an efficient 10.9 points and 8.4 rebounds a game last season.
But what happens when he goes to the bench? Ed Davis was a reliable, veteran option last season, but he’s not on the same career timeline as the Nets young core.
Which brings us to the NBA draft — the Nets are going to think big, as in bigs, with one of their picks (17, 27, 31), reports Ian Begley of SNY.tv.
In the NBC Sports Mock Draft myself and Rob Dauster put together this week — check out the podcasts detailing the picks — we had the Nets taking Kentucky forward P.J. Washington with the No. 17 pick, then rolling the dice on Bol Bol at 27 (although, if they did like him, they could wait until the 31st pick, in the second round, so the money is not guaranteed). While Bol could be that backup big, he’s also a multi-year project who may not stick in the league.
Other players who could be on the board around 17 are Cameron Johnson, Rui Hachimura, and Nassir Little — all forwards. At 27 they could target centers such as Goga Bitadze or Florida State’s Mfiondu Kabengele, too. Just expect them to think big man with one of those picks.
