C.J. Holmes: Nets fans have 5 good reasons to watch the Final Four this weekend
NEW YORK — The Nets will enter this year’s draft with their own first-round pick and the NBA’s third-best lottery odds entering Tuesday, along with two second-round picks. Brooklyn is hoping the pingpong balls bounce its way and put AJ Dybantsa, Darryn Peterson or Cameron Boozer within reach, but that’s never guaranteed. So as the men’s Final Four tips off this weekend, there are still a handful of players Nets fans should be watching closely.
Keaton Wagler, Illinois Wagler is probably the easiest name for Nets fans to latch onto in this group. If Brooklyn ends up outside the very top of the board, he feels like the kind of guard you start talking yourself into pretty quickly. The appeal is not hard to see.
He can create, he can score and he looks comfortable with the ball in his hands in big moments. Yaxel Lendeborg, Michigan Lendeborg is a different sort of prospect, but he’s worth the attention. He does a little bit of everything, and there’s real value in that for a team like Brooklyn.
The Nets are still in talent-collection mode, but they also need players who can fit around other pieces and help good basketball happen. Lendeborg’s versatility is what makes him interesting. He is not the flashy name at the very top, but he is the kind of player teams end up liking for good reason.
Brayden Burries, Arizona Burries feels like the kind of player Nets fans should watch closely because the fit is easy to imagine. Brooklyn needs more juice on the wing. It needs more players who can make something happen when possessions start to break down.