Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot turned an opportunity in Brooklyn into a breakthrough season last year.
After playing in just two of Brooklyn’s first 24 games while on a two-way contract, Luwawu-Cabarrot earned a full roster spot and played in 45 of the final 48, starting five of the 12 games the Nets played on the NBA Campus in Orlando. He averaged 15.1 points and shot 39.5 percent from 3-point range over 12 games during the summer, and was Brooklyn’s leading scorer in wins against Milwaukee and Orlando.
“If you talk about the bubble and the whole season, this was great,” said Luwawu-Cabarrot. “We had a good time. We went to the playoffs for the first round. It was a good experience, but we had a whole new team. Trying to just put what was last year in the past and keep on getting better and getting to know my teammates every single day and get better with them since it’s a whole new team. What was in the past is in the past. It was great, but we’ve got whole new goals and objectives, so I’m trying to keep the flow with the new team.”
Luwawu-Cabarrot has rolled with changes over the last year, playing himself into a bigger role and taking the court in Orlando with a roster almost unrecognizable from the one the Nets began the 2019-20 season with. The reset for 2020-21 begins with the return of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, plus those who missed the summer restart such as Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, and Taurean Prince.
There’s also a new head coach in Steve Nash, and Luwawu-Cabarrot talked about the message he’s received from Nash as workouts got underway in Brooklyn this week.
“Get better in defense, stay ready, stay focused every single day, get better in defense,” said Luwawu-Cabarrot. “Stay ready, stay focused every single day, get better on defense, be ready to guard the best guys across the basket. And that's what I'm gonna do. I don’t know, we haven't talked much about what’s going to happen in the upcoming season, but he did talk about that.”
Along with Nash, Mike D’Antoni has joined Brooklyn’s staff and will take a lead role in with the offense. D’Antoni launched the “Seven Seconds or Less” attack that Nash ran in Phoenix, the up-tempo, 3-point heavy offense that has been the most influential scheme in the NBA over the last two decades. Over the last four seasons as Houston’s head coach, D’Antoni pushed the Rockets toward smaller lineups while annually breaking NBA records for 3-pointers attempted.
Luwawu-Cabarrot, who before last season had attempted a career-high 3.0 3-pointers per game, averaged 7.5 in Orlando while playing significant minutes at the 4 spot at 6-foot-7.
“Oh man, it’s going to be exciting,” said Luwawu-Cabarrot. “We did have some thoughts about that. It’s going to be like very fast pace. You know, run the floor, play really fast, I believe shoot 3s, get to the rim, get fouled, play in the first quarter of the 24 seconds. So yeah, it's very, very high pace, very high pace.”
He likes the style, and isn’t sweating the fit as the Nets get started sorting things out with a deep roster.
“I don’t put myself in any kind of roles,” said Luwawu-Cabarrot. “I’m just trying to fit in and bring all the energy I can bring. I know I can help this team win. I think I’m pretty different than everybody else on this team. I run, I play defense, I can knock down shots and I think I’ve got a good opportunity with this team and I think I can help. I can be next to those guys and compete.”