THE NUMBERS
THE SEASON
Dante Cunningham arrived in Brooklyn on trade deadline day in exchange for Rashad Vaughn, who had himself been acquired just two days earlier for center Tyler Zeller. The shuffle brought a new look to Brooklyn’s big-man rotation, and filled a void left by the trade of forward Trevor Booker to Philadelphia two months earlier.
Zeller was part of a four-man contingent of centers, fronted at that point by the emerging rookie Jarrett Allen, who had moved into the starting lineup a week earlier. The veteran forward Cunningham was a better fit to play the short-handed power forward spot, in addition to moving to center in small ball lineups.
Cunningham coincidentally made his Nets debut in a game against his former Pelicans teammates, with the team registering plus-21 during his 19 minutes.
“Saw him really do good things,” said Nets coach Kenny Atkinson of Cunningham’s first Brooklyn appearance. “I thought he had a real positive impact. His energy and his rebounding, his physicality. He’s an NBA player, and with experience. That’s a big help for our group.”
Cunningham quickly seized a consistent spot in Brooklyn’s rotation, averaging 20 minutes per game over 22 games. In his fourth game as a Net, Cunningham put up a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds against Charlotte.
Over the season’s final two months, Cunningham gave the Nets a tough and versatile frontcourt presence, shooting 38.3 percent from 3-point range on 2.7 attempts per game.
PLUS/MINUS
Most significantly, Dante Cunningham helped bring some balance to Brooklyn’s frontcourt rotation. Before his arrival, the Nets were four-deep at center with no natural backup for Rondae Hollis-Jefferson. And at the time, even Hollis-Jefferson was sidelined by an injury, with DeMarre Carroll sliding down to the 4 spot. With the Nets always valuing shooting range from their bigs, Cunningham connected for 38.3 percent behind the arc. At 6-foot-8, he did give away a size advantage when asked to defend bigger players.