Alex Labidou

BROOKLYN – It’s been just over two months, but Caris LeVert is noticeably bigger than the last time he put on a Nets uniform back in April.

“[My offseason] has been good,” LeVert told BrooklynNets.com. “A lot of strength training and conditioning. Just working on my game as a whole.”

LeVert’s physical improvement shows just how far he’s come from when he was drafted as a skinny swingman from Michigan.  

 “I’ve been working on my lower body strength, it’s an area where we feel I can improve and will improve my game as a whole. If I can get my legs stronger then that will kind of jumpstart a lot of other areas of my game.”

With the NBA Draft coming up this Thursday, LeVert reflected on his draft night experience with BrooklynNets.com.

Editorial Note: Responses have been edited for clarity and brevity purposes

What do you remember from your draft night experience?

I remember I was really nervous; I wasn’t exactly sure where I was going to go. I remember I was sitting in the stands, like right behind Isaiah [Whitehead]. It’s kind of cool that we got drafted to the same place. Obviously at that time, I didn’t know where I was going to go, but I was just excited and anxious to see where I was going to go.

You were drafted by the Indiana Pacers before ultimately ending up with the Nets. When did you know you were heading to Brooklyn?

My agent kind of came up to me around the 17th or 18th pick and told me that Brooklyn was going to take me at 20, so I pretty much knew at that point that they had traded to get that pick.

Was it exciting to be drafted at Barclays Center considering that that’s where you would end up playing?

Yeah absolutely, I remember before the draft, my agent was telling me once I get picked we’re going to have to fly out that night or the next morning – to the destination where I got drafted by. It’s kind of cool to know I got drafted at Barclays [Center] and that’s where I started my career and hopefully I’ll play here as long as I can.

You had previously mentioned that you hoped that you would end up in Brooklyn because of your predraft experience. Why was that?

Well I came here and I saw the practice facility – it stood out and it was beautiful. It was probably the nicest one that I had been to during the draft process. I liked the fact that there were new coaches and [the team] was kind of starting over. I felt like if I got drafted here, I would have a chance to play right away. I feel like every young player wants that opportunity. I felt like they had a good staff, they came from the Spurs and the Hawks, they had a good system that kind of fit my game as well.

What was your family reaction when you got drafted?

I felt like everyone was so excited. I had a lot of family here, friends here as well. Everyone was so excited, no one kind of knew where I was going to go so it was kind of surprising to everyone. It’s not like you’re in the green room, the first 14 picks or so, and you kind of know where you’re going. My range was wide open from 20 to undrafted so it was really surprising to get drafted at 20 for sure.

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Brooklyn Nets Q and A: Caris LeVert on his Offseason and Draft Night

The best young ballers of the New York and New Jersey area put on a show at Brooklyn Bridge Park in the Nets’ Second Annual Youth Tournament on Sunday. Brooklyn center Jarrett Allen was in attendance to catch all of the action.

“It’s good to see that the Nets are here, responding to the community,” Allen said. 

The eight-team competition pit some of the best local talent age 14 and under against each other in a double elimination tournament. Allen was impressed with the organization of the tournament as he compared it to competitions he participated in when he was younger.

“I used to be one of the young kids playing out there, playing in my church league,” he said. “Back then you were able to run with the ball, there was no travels, no double-dribbles, so this is definitely a higher level than what I did.”

Brooklyn’s own Funsport took home the trophy as it beat another team from the borough in the Broncos. Check out our video recap of the event below:

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Brooklyn's Funsport seals Nets' Second Annual Youth Tournament win

Analytics have been a way of life at the Nets organization since Sean Marks’ arrival as general manager in 2016. It plays a significant role in all aspects of the team, especially in roster building.

One area where analytics have been particularly useful for the Nets has been in the draft, where the team has found mid-to-late first round steals in Caris LeVert and Jarrett Allen. Both players are now considered foundational pieces for the franchise and there’s no doubting that the team’s data-minded approach played a role in finding both. The Nets’ approach to the draft is now getting national attention as well.

ESPN polled current and former NBA executives to determine which teams are the best at using analytics in the draft and Brooklyn came in at an impressive No. 5. Here’s what the media outlet had to say:

5. Brooklyn Nets: Perhaps a surprise entry, but another Buford disciple (notice a trend?), general manager Sean Marks, has changed the process in Brooklyn and folks around the NBA have noticed. Said one current NBA front office type: "Sean is definitely doing things the right way."

The Rockets topped the list at No. 1, while the Celtics, Spurs and Thunder followed in subsequent order. The Jazz rounded out the list at No. 6. To read more about the ranking and draft analytics, check out the story here. 

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ESPN praises Brooklyn Nets’ usage of analytics for NBA Draft

Isaiah Whitehead was one of the G League's elite scorers in the 2017-18 campaign and he hopes he can build on that heading into next season. 

Due to the Brooklyn Nets’ heavy rotation of guards, Whitehead’s playing time was limited last season as he appeared in 16 games. Still, he is encouraged by the strides made in Long Island, where he averaged 22.3 points per game on 45 percent shooting. The Brooklyn native is also motivated by conversations that he's had with Kenny Atkinson in the offseason and the opportunity to play in front of family and friends in his hometown. 

In an one-on-one sitdown with BrooklynNets.com, Whitehead recalls his draft experience, discusses parenthood and looks ahead to next season. 

Talk about your draft experience, what do you remember from it?

It was very nerve-wracking -- you never know where you going to get picked. You have your whole family there and you don’t want to not get picked because they are there and it’s been your dream for your whole life. That moment I did get picked, it was like a dream come true. It was like a weight lifted off my shoulders and it was [good] to start getting ready for the next level.

What did it mean to end up with the Nets?

It meant everything. I actually thought I was heading to Utah until I got to the back and they told me about the trade. It was a dream come true. I had passed Barclays Center multiple times and I’d been to games. It was definitely great to know that I was going to be a part of the show that’s always there.

What was some of the best family reactions that you can share about when you did get drafted by the Nets?

My Mom was crazy excited, that I wasn’t going anywhere at all. She was definitely excited that I’d be closer to home. My little brother jumped out of his seat when I told him. He was excited that I wasn’t going to leave him. I’ve been there since I was born of course. Me not being there, looking after him and tucking him into bed would’ve been tough for him, so he was definitely excited.

It’s been great. Definitely positive on the basketball side and things are definitely positive at home too. I get to spend time with my daughter -- I just had her, she’s one years old. Definitely great to be able to come to work and have all of the coaches here and then be able to go home and see your family, there’s nothing like it.

How does parenthood change things for you?

It changes everything. Now it’s not about yourself, it’s about your child. It’s different type of work ethic now, a different type of mindset. It’s the gym then home, nowhere else. Where else would you rather be then with your one-year old?

Last year, you did a lot of great things with the Long Island Nets. Can you build off that in Brooklyn next season?

Definitely, I talk to coach Kenny every day. Just about staying consistent, staying great with your habits. Eating, sleeping – everything just be ready for when that time comes. He says it’s going to come, so I’m here for it.

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Brooklyn Nets' Isaiah Whitehead Q and A: NBA Draft, Offseason and Parenthood

Editor’s Note: All opinions expressed by Alex Labidou are solely his own and do not reflect the opinions of the Brooklyn Nets or the team’s Basketball Operations staff, parent company, partners, or sponsors

With the NBA season now officially over, fans are already starting to look ahead to the 2018-19 campaign and Brooklyn fans are no exception. There are tons of mailbag questions about potential trades, free agency and what the Nets will do with the 29th pick. Here we go:

What will the Nets do about trades and free agency? Are there any untouchable players on Brooklyn’s roster?

This was a popular question, with dozens of you asking about it. I want to stress that my answer below is strictly my opinion and it is almost vertically impossible to predict what Sean Marks has planned for the offseason.  

What I can say, based on Marks’ end of the season press conference, is the Nets’ front office are continuing to search for ways to improve the current roster. While he and Kenny Atkinson both believe that the eight-game improvement last season is a sign of the progress under their leadership, finding the pieces to gain consistency will be important to continue the growth that both want to see.

I do believe that size and defense are two areas the team will aim to address this season.

“If we say it’s just front court…yeah, is there a bit of a hole there? True. For sure,” Marks said in April. “But let’s be strategic in how we build across the board one through five, adding length, adding size, physicality to help on the defensive end specifically. Yes, that would be a goal.”

I also think Marks will attempt to make the moves necessary to try to address those areas. Brook Lopez was a Nets’ icon, but young players are ultimately needed in a rebuilding situation – which led to the move for D’Angelo Russell. That being said, there is a young core being developed in Brooklyn and Marks stressed the value of continuity. I don’t believe there will be significant turnover, but rather strategic moves to take the next step.

“The hope is that we move forward, ‘hey, here’s eight or nine guys we’ve moved forward with, and the following year, here’s nine to ten,’ and you piece together your roster like that,” Marks said. “There is a lot of value in having continuity. If every off-season, ‘Kenny, here’s 15 guys, go and teach them and develop them again,’ I’m putting a lot on our coaching staff. So it’d be nice … what was here, what we inherited, what we came in to, and try build at some point, with some limited tools.

“Part of it is roster turnover and we’re going to have to do that to find the guys that fit what we’re trying to do here. Ultimately the goal is not to have 22, 23 guys on the roster every year.”

In my opinion, I think Rondae Hollis-Jefferson is probably the funniest player on the team, which he was our first choice for our player blog series – check it out here.

Close runner ups are Spencer Dinwiddie, DeMarre Carroll and Timofey Mozgov. Who can forget Dinwiddie saying that his new haircut was down to being a sex symbol and Carroll calling Caris LeVert his fashion successor?

I didn’t grow up rooting for the Nets while they were in New Jersey, but I do have a personal connection with the team now that they are in Brooklyn.

I grew up in Clinton Hill about less than a mile away from Barclays Center and you always want to see your local community do well. So I definitely subscribe to the Premier League soccer thought of supporting your neighborhood club.

As for favorite childhood players, I’ll throw my starting five out there:

PG: Gary Payton SG: Ray Allen SF: Scottie Pippen PF: Chris Webber C: Patrick Ewing

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Brooklyn Nets Mailbag: What will the team do this offseason?

Let’s get this started. The offseason has been good for the most part. It’s been good to refresh and spend time with my family and friends. Honestly, being able to stay close to those who I’m closest with and play the game I love are the two most important things to me. If there’s one thing that irked me, it’s comments made by a person last Tuesday that I won’t give any shine to. As I’ve said already, he’ll need to check in before he visits Brooklyn.

He doesn’t know what’s going on in our locker room, in our text messages and how we are as a team. I felt like it was a shot and a slap to the face, because of the perception of how nice we are. I feel like people look past what we have here sometimes. Yes, our record is what it is, but we have a brotherhood in our locker room and we have a group of young guys who are grinding every day to prove against that perception and improve as a team. We improved by eight games last season and that’s got to be the minimum expectation heading into next season. That was what the California trip was all about.

Everyone who went on that trip, volunteered to be a part of it. There weren’t any ultimatums and we definitely didn’t hold anyone hostage once they came. I was impressed that even guys who are free agents showed up. It shows the comfort level that we have with each other, it’s like they were like “I want to be here.” Anytime you get a group of guys that commit to something bigger than themselves, that says a lot about their character. About who they are and focusing on a better future, not only for themselves, but for us as a team. I think it was big, it was a step forward in the right direction for us.

Personally, it also inspired me to think about my own goals and expectations. I’m entering my fourth year and I want to be great. I want to be one of the greatest players to ever play the game. I think that’ll take some time, but I think I’m making the right strides – mentally. Once you figure out and know you have the talent, I think the next step is mentally sacrificing. Whether that’s your diet, your sleep or telling your friends ‘no we can’t hang out.’ Ultimately, to become this great player, you have to make those sacrifices and changes that the ones who aren’t great wouldn’t do. I think I showed some of that last season by improving offensively and I want to build on that heading into next season.

Funny enough, those comments weren’t the only diss that came out last Tuesday. There was also Pusha T lighting up Drake with one of the craziest tracks I have ever heard. Yo it’s crazy! Pusha is literally coming for Drake’s neck out here.

I’m actually a big fan of Drake’s, so I’m interested to see where he goes from here. He can rap, but he’s also great at making music that anyone can jam to. Pusha is a straight-up poet and he apparently knows his stuff…ha ha. Drake’s issue is that he knows his limits and where he feels comfortable. It’s not his identity to battle rap, but you never know. He always seems to surprise people and he needs to respond. Sooner than later.

Getting back to the offseason, although I have been enjoying some downtime, I’ve definitely been paying close to attention to the playoffs.

I was able to catch up with my good friends, Alex and Maia Shibutani, for Game 1 of the Finals. Now you might be wondering how I’m cool with two Winter Olympic figure skaters. Simple, we’re all ambassadors for Right to Play. I joined my rookie year in 2015 and that’s where I met them. I remember I was chilling with personal friends on my own when they came up to me and introduced themselves. Moments later, Alex came up to me and was like “Dude, you’ve should’ve been a higher draft pick!” That’s when we started to laugh and joke and exchanged numbers. Ever since, we’ve been pretty close.

Alex and Maia are big fans of the NBA. Alex used to tell me how Maia would beat him all of the time in 2K by exclusively using Shaq. It’s cool to hear their perspective on ball and I’ve also quizzed them on figure skating. I’m not a huge figure skating fan, but I watch whenever they are on. I’ll be like “Bro, you got an ice blade on your leg, that doesn’t hurt?” LOL. So here’s where this gets even better, they have offered to teach me how to figure skate. I mean I skate a little bit, but imagine me at 6-foot-8 trying that out? Of course I accepted. You may see some videos come this winter.

Alright everyone, appreciated having a chance to share some thoughts here. Next time, I’ll reveal why my grandfather was dominating street courts in his late 50s and how he and my brother Rahlir led me on my path to the NBA.

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Rondae Hollis-Jefferson's Nets blog: Offseason, Drake vs. Pusha T, figure skating

The NBA Draft and offseason are almost here, which means there's plenty of questions about the draft and the team's current roster. Without further ado, here's my responses:

The one promising thing about the guards on the Nets roster is that they are all relatively tall (the shortest out of the group is Isaiah at 6-foot-4) and can play multiple positions.

Caris LeVert, for example, can play and guard positions 1 through 3. The combination of D’Angelo Russell and Spencer Dinwiddie hit some bumps on the road last season, but I’m not sure the team is quite ready to give up on that yet. There were some promising signs at times and Kenny Atkinson appeared to have high expectations for both, judging on comments in a recent interview with Bleacher Report’s Howard Beck.

“I don’t put ceilings on guys -- (it’s like) ‘Spencer, can you get to be top-50?’ or ‘D’Angelo, can you get to be top-30?’ That’s where I think you’ll see make a big jump,” he said.

With a full training camp together, that could develop into a stronger partnership. Then there’s Jeremy Lin, who has been determined to get back to his best. I think competition will bring out the best in this group.

I want to stress that this is strictly my opinion and I’m not speaking for the Nets organization. From my perspective, I think there’s three players who might be available at the 29th pick and could have an impact:

Villanova’s Omari Spellman, Mitchell Robinson, and USC’s De'Anthony Melton

We all know Kenny Atkinson loves big men who can shoot so Spellman would be a good fit there as he’s shot 43 percent from the arc in his freshman campaign at Nova. He’s a big, physical guy who is good at chasing boards – an area of need for the team.

Mitchell Robinson didn’t play in college last season, but he was considered one of the best prospects in high school just a year ago. He might be considered a project but late in the first round, sometimes those are the gambles that pay off. Plus, he’s got top level shot-blocking ability and Nets sat at 16th in that area last season.

Finally, I like Melton who some have considered to be the next Patrick Beverley. I know he’s a bit undersized at 6-foot-3, but those were the same concerns about Beverley. Atkinson often discussed wanting to improve on that side of the floor and Melton could help in that area.

To read more about potential prospects at No. 29 pick, check out our Mock Draft hub.

D’Angelo has been grinding and working out at HSS Training Center and elsewhere this offseason. If there’s one thing that’s been impressive about this roster, it’s the fact that participation in voluntary offseason workouts has been very good. This is a hungry group with a lot to prove and I think you’ll see that next season.

Spencer is a proud new dad to a baby boy. Otherwise, he’s been working out in California and I’ve been told, adding boxing and yoga to his regimen.

I’m assuming you’re asking me this question. I’m going with Jay Z, Kanye, Empire of the Sun and TV on the Radio. That new Pusha T album is also fire.

Ha, I’ll let our upcoming player blogs respond to that. Wink wink.

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Brooklyn Nets Mailbag: What will the guard rotation look like?

Caris LeVert admits that he didn’t know what to expect in his first trip to India as part of the NBA’s Basketball Without Borders initiative. Within a short amount of time, he quickly learned about the country and Asia’s passion for basketball after running a few clinics.

“Not all of the campers speak great English so one of the guys on my team actually wrote a couple of questions on his phone and translated it to English. That was how we communicated a little bit,” LeVert said. “It was cool to see how hungry he was to get better – that he went to those measures to do that.”

The NBA and FIBA launched the 10th edition of Basketball without Borders Asia Camp on Wednesday morning at The NBA Academy India in the Delhi National Capital Region. Sixty-six top high-school age boys and girls from 16 countries and territories across Asia took the court and had the opportunity to learn from not only LeVert but fellow professional basketball players like Corey Brewer (Oklahoma City Thunder), Kelly Olynyk (Miami Heat), Dwight Powell (Dallas Mavericks), two-time WNBA champion Ruth Riley and former WNBA player Ebony Hoffman. The program also featured Indian professional basketball players Satnam Singh and Amjyot Singh.

LeVert has been in the country’s capital, New Delhi, for the past three days along with Nets assistant coach Bret Breilmaier. The 23-year-old has been assisting in various clinics with the high school kids and was immediately impressed by not only their passion, but their skill as well.

“There’s definitely a lot of talent here,” LeVert said. “I feel like people in the [United] States will definitely know a few of these kids in the future.”

LeVert also praised the facilities at The NBA Academy India.

“It seems like the resources are pretty equal,” he said. “It seems like the stuff we have here, they have there as well.  The gym here is really nice.”

Outside of basketball, LeVert has enjoyed his opportunity to take in Indian culture and visit a few sites. He has posted Instagram stories about his visit outside of Taj Mahal and other sites around New Delhi.  LeVert was motivated by his first trip to Asia last summer as part of Jeremy Lin’s camp, so he jumped at the opportunity to see more of the continent when his agent offered it to him.

“I didn’t really know too much about the culture at all. I didn’t really know too much about the food. The climate. I feel like I’ve learned a lot in the past couple of days. The people are very nice, very welcoming…. It’s been an amazing time out here.”

Although LeVert is spending a brief period of time in Asia, he acknowledged the importance of NBA players making trips around the globe to grow the sport. Dirk Nowitzki and other international players in the league have pointed to similar trips as their inspiration in getting into professional basketball. LeVert has seen plenty of determined teenagers during the trip so far and he hopes to have a similar impact.

“You never know who’s watching you,” he said. “There’s a lot of people out there who have the same dreams that I did at their age.

“They are really talented. Like I said there’s a lot of kids who are looking up to what we do. For us, it inspires us to be great.”