Breaking Down Brooklyn Nets' Point Guard Position for 2014-15 Season

Much like starting quarterbacks or shortstops in New York, point guards in The Big Apple receive boatloads of attention.

Since Deron Williams joined the Brooklyn Nets four years ago, that attention has varied from occasionally high praise to, with greater frequency, damning criticism.

Williams was a superstar with the Utah Jazz when the Nets acquired him, but he’s failed to bring that same caliber of game to Brooklyn.

Heading into 2014-15, D-Will is set to be the top dog on the point guard food chain once again. The Nets are keeping their fingers crossed that he can stay healthy and get back to the top of his game.

Last year, Williams battled through ankle pain and missed 18 games. Luckily for Brooklyn, though, a resurrected Shaun Livingston was there to help carry the point guard load.

After suffering one of the NBA’s all-time grisliest injuries back in 2007, the 29-year-old Livingston finally dug his feet in with Brooklyn. The veteran guard had bounced around the league since his injury, but the Nets gave him his first meaningful role since he returned to the game.

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Williams and Livingston shared point guard duties last season and combined to give the Nets 22.6 points, 9.3 assists and 5.8 boards a night.

The Golden State Warriors lured Livingston away from Brooklyn this summer, but general manager Billy King drafted Markel Brown out of Oklahoma State and also made a deal with the Cleveland Cavaliers for Jarrett Jack.

D-Will, now 30 years old, underwent surgery on both ankles and is expected to enter training camp with his health bar near 100 percent.

Brooklyn will lean heavily on Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez, Mason Plumlee and newcomer Bojan Bogdanovic to carry the team offensively, but reliable point guard play will help determine how far Brooklyn’s 2014-15 journey will go.

Grading Last Year's PG Performance

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It’s difficult to give Brooklyn a concrete point guard grade for last year. D-Will was either hurt or hobbled while the serviceable Livingston, who does all the little things, didn’t really fill up the stat sheet.

The Nets made the best of the hand they were dealt under former coach Jason Kidd, as the team's PG situation was directly affected by a broken foot that took Lopez down 17 games into the season.

Robbed of arguably his best offensive weapon, Kidd then implemented a small-ball lineup that featured Williams and Livingston in the backcourt with Johnson at the 3, Paul Pierce at power forward and Kevin Garnett or Plumlee at center.

The lineup meshed well, and Brooklyn bounced back from a 10-21 start to finish the year 44-38. The sixth-seeded Nets also upended the division champion Toronto Raptors in Round 1 of the playoffs before falling to the Miami Heat in the next tier.

Williams, whose 14.3 scoring average was his lowest since his rookie year, admitted that his confidence was shaken last season.

Here’s what D-Will told Tim Bontemps of the New York Post in February:

"

“It’s not my highest,” he said with a sheepish smile. “It’s been tough … just being in and out of the lineups, missing two weeks here and there.

“I feel like I get my legs back, get my legs in shape, and then I go out again. Then I’ve got to just do it all over again. It’s just been a struggle.”

"

Brooklyn desperately needed No. 8 to be a star at various points throughout last season, especially with Pierce and Garnett noticeably declining and Lopez sidelined.

If the calm and collected Livingston were an NFL player, he’d be Alex Smith of the Kansas City Chiefs—a reserved game manager who helps his team win without loud stats. Last season, the Nets could’ve use some more big games from the veteran, who scored 20 or more points just four times in 76 contests.

D-Will’s average of 2.2 turnovers per night was the second-lowest rate of his 10-year career, and he also shot a respectable 45 percent from the field. Livingston stepped in and paced Brooklyn with 54 starts, giving the team a solid Plan B when D-Will was injured or struggling.

All in all, Williams and Livingston weren’t bad. They just weren't great.

Grade: C

The New Blood

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With a new, traditionalist coach in Lionel Hollins at the helm this season, it’s unlikely that we’ll see another dual-point guard starting lineup.

"He's a point guard. He's our point guard," Hollins said of Williams, per Brian Lewis of the New York Post. " ... He's going to be the primary ball-handler."

The 30-year-old Jack is coming off of what may be the worst season of his career. After giving the Golden State Warriors an electrifying 12.9 points and 5.6 assists in 2012-13, Jack managed to put up 9.5 points and 4.1 dimes for the Cleveland Cavaliers last season.

However, the journeyman point guard is ready to help out the Nets in any way possible, whether that means starting or relieving D-Will off the bench.

“I think I can be someone who can kind of relieve Deron at times, you know the ball-handling responsibilities,” Jack told ESPN New York's Ohm Youngmisuk. “A person that is trying to create opportunities for myself or for my teammates.”

Jack will quickly become a fan favorite in Brooklyn thanks to his explosive scoring ability and undying passion on both ends. Should the Nets make the playoffs, Jack's experience, and success, will be huge.

Two years ago, Jack averaged an impressive 17.4 points, 4.7 assists and 4.4 boards in 12 postseason games with the Dubs.

Williams, the clear-cut No. 1 option at point guard, will have a solid backup in Jack.

And if you squint and look hard enough, you might be able to see the rest of Brooklyn’s PG depth chart.

Brown, a sensational dunker with more hops than a liquor store, will primarily see minutes at shooting guard.

The 6’3” guard thrived alongside Marcus Smart at OK State, averaging 17.2 points, 2.9 assists and 5.3 rebounds in his senior year. Should Williams go down with an injury—and that’s a legitimate possibility—then Brown could get some playing time at the 1.

Also in the point guard mix are Jorge Gutierrez and Marquis Teague, but they’ll likely be non-factors. If Brooklyn finds itself relying on them for meaningful minutes, something has gone seriously wrong.

Looking Ahead to 2014-15

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The Nets are not going to live and die with their point guards. D-Will and Jack will be key players, but it'll predominantly be Lopez, Johnson, Plumlee and Bogdanovic who will be asked to put points on the board.

In terms of Williams, and Brooklyn’s point guard play in general, B/R’s Zach Buckley put it best.

“For Brooklyn, Williams is one of many pieces needed to make that puzzle fit,” Buckley wrote. “As long as he's part of the solution and not the problem, the franchise should take what it can get from its fallen star.”

No. 8 is not what he used to be and can’t be expected to put up All-Star numbers. If his ankles get the Mr. Miyagi treatment, and he’s magically transported back into his Jazz days, then that’s great for the Nets.

Brooklyn can’t put all of its eggs in the D-Will basket, though. And in a testament to King, it hasn’t.

Williams will definitely have a serious role—after all, he’s a starting point guard on a team coming off of a playoff berth. But he has a strong, deep team around him.

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There are going to be times where Williams will look like his old, elite self. There are going to be nights where Jack is unstoppable, hitting three-pointer after three-pointer and getting Barclays Center rocking.

And then, there are going to be nights—hopefully few of them, for Brooklyn’s sake—where Hollins is going to want to grab someone out of the stands to run the point.

The Nets are, by no means, elite at point guard. But after losing a guy who started more than half the year in the backcourt, the team will be OK heading into 2014-15.

In a perfect world, the Nets will give us other things to talk about—Lopez’s return to prominence, big stat lines from Johnson, Plumlee’s continued growth and Bogdanovic’s impact on the team should all take precedence.

If we’re talking about Brooklyn’s point guard play a few months into the season, it’s likely because that is what’s holding the team back from actualizing its potential.

All stats are accurate courtesy of Basketball Reference.