Brooklyn Nets vs. Charlotte Hornets preview: Opening Night!

The NBA is officially BACK! Things are looking pretty different from when we last saw you for games that counted, but we’ll have you covered on all things Brooklyn Nets here at Netsdaily. Buckle up!

Joining the Nets on this adventure will be the Charlotte Hornets. Charles Lee begins his second season with the club and hopes to find more success this go around than he did last year. The team has a good share of young talent and hopes that they can surprise some people along the way.

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No Haywood Highsmith. A clean slater otherwise. Will Nets sign someone to the open two-way before game time?

Josh Green and Grant Williams are out.

The NetsDaily team held a roundtable where we discussed the upcoming season and some pressing questions on our minds. Check it out!

Someone who will be key to this season is Nic Claxton. The big guy is healthy and hopes to look like his 2022-2023 self that was a stealth All-Defensive team candidate. When Claxton is able to blow coverages up, handle switches, and be a great pick-and-roll partner with his guards, his value jumps through the roof.

Michael Porter Jr will be making his Nets regular season debut. MPJ will serve as the Nets’ No. 2 scoring option behind Cam Thomas, and the team is going to need a lot from their new acquisition. There are a lot of Nets players with things to prove, and Porter Jr. might be at the top of the list. His reputation has taken plenty of hits in recent years, and he’s going to need to put together a great season so he can silence those criticisms. It will start with better work on defense. He was pretty non-existent on that end in preseason and now that the games have stakes, lackluster efforts will become even more damaging if he isn’t careful.

Brandon Miller is back and hoping to build on a shortened sophomore season. Miller was limited to just 27 games last season as he had to undergo surgery to repair a torn right wrist ligament. Prior to the injury, he upped his three point attempts from around seven threes per game to almost 11 a night. For Miller, those increased three point attempts make him a more dangerous scorer and if he can up his efficiency from deep while continuing to be an excellent finisher at the rim, things will be looking up for the potential star.

We’ve been talking about rookies all summer, and tonight we’ll get to see Charlotte’s new rookie! Kon Knueppel was taken fourth overall and had a quality preseason. If the Nets had better lottery luck, he might have been someone the Nets took with their pick. However, that never came to pass as Knueppel was gone by the time Brooklyn was up in the Draft. The player they did get is looking to get more comfortable now that he’s on the court. Egor Demin is back in action after sitting out most of preseason with a foot injury. We’ll see how Jordi Fernandez utilizes him and the minutes he plays tonight. The first game is always nerve-wracking, so if he starts off slowly, don’t fret too much. We’ve got 81 more to go!

Player to watch: Lamelo Ball

There’s been so much discussion about whether Lamelo is a “winning” player. That’s a conversation secondary to whether he can actually stay on the court. He’s only played over 70 games once in his career, and it’s the only season he’s been named to the All Star team. Charlotte can’t look to plan for the future if they don’t get to see what their engine can do with the players around him. Over at Yahoo Sports, Dan Devine wrote about Ball and the Hornets in a big season preview:

They need Ball on the floor not only because he’s their primary ball-handler, most gifted playmaker and leading scorer, but also because they need to see whether what they’ve assembled around him is as sensible and cohesive as what the Pistons put around Cade last season. They never really had a chance to determine that last season, even when Ball was healthy; the Hornets lost more games to injury than any team outside of Philadelphia, according to Spotrac’s injury data, with Ball, Brandon Miller, Grant Williams, Tre Mann, since-traded centers Mark Williams and Nick Richards, and pretty much every other player even theoretically expected to provide meaningful minutes in Charlotte missing noteworthy chunks of time.

With Ball missing significant time due to ankle woes and enticing swingman Miller, the No. 2 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, sidelined for the final three months of last season following wrist surgery, the Hornets’ most prized young players have shared the floor for just 828 minutes over 39 games combined over the last two seasons, according to PBP Stats. Hornets president of basketball operations Jeff Peterson said on media day that both Ball and Miller are fully operational and ready to go entering training camp; if they can stay that way into the season, hopefully Charlotte can begin assessing in earnest whether they’re able to serve as the engine of a turnaround.

Ball is only 24 years old. However, you start to wonder if he’ll be able to put all of his amazing talents together and go on a special run. Charlotte hasn’t made the playoffs since the 2015-2016 season, and while it seems unlikely they return this season, maybe they can surprise everyone if Ball has an All Star season.

Cam Thomas is the centerpiece of the Nets offense and he enters tonight hoping to get the most important season of his career off to a great start. We know all the drama from the summer and the inability of he and the team to agree to a contract extension. Thomas hopes to lead this Nets team to a respectable season while showcasing his all around game. The Hornets were one of the worst defensive teams in the league last season, and we all know Thomas can heat up at a moment’s notice. If the stars align, Thomas can create a memory Nets fans will never forget.

Starting the season with Vince Carter? Works for me!