Grading Brooklyn Nets' Final 15-Man Roster

It's time for real basketball. The preseason is finally over.

Entering the exhibition schedule, the Brooklyn Nets had plenty of questions they were looking to answer.

How would Deron Williams look after offseason surgeries on both his ankles? Could Brook Lopez stay healthy? Could Bojan Bogdanovic integrate himself properly into Lionel Hollins' offense? 

Four wins, a trip to China and six "meaningless" games later, we've got a better idea of what those answers may be in the upcoming season. 

The Nets open up against the Boston Celtics on Wednesday, Oct. 29. First, though, they had to get their team down to 15 players. 

After waiving Willie Reed and trading Marquis Teague (along with a future second-round pick) to the Philadelphia 76ers for Casper Ware, whom they promptly waived as well, the Nets roster is set at 15.

Now, as Brooklyn moves forward with its lineup complete, it's time to grade out the Nets position by position.

Point Guard

Jason DeCrow/Associated Press

First string: Deron Williams

Second string: Jarrett Jack

Third string: Jorge Gutierrez

There was a time not too long ago when the Nets would've been disappointed if this grade were anything lower than an A. It's funny how a couple years can change things.

After forcing people to ask, "Wait, is D-Will better than Chris Paul?" as if it were some awkward realization during his time with the Utah Jazz, Williams has fallen out of the NBA's elite.

Last year, he had the worst season of his career, putting up stats that were consistently tagged with the disclaimer "lowest since his rookie season" while on two gimpy ankles.

Williams tried his best to remedy that problem over the offseason, getting surgery on both his ankles. We're yet to find out if that operation is good or bad news moving forward, but Williams did look quicker and more decisive in his cuts during the preseason than he did at any point last year.

Jack, even coming off a down year in Cleveland, belongs in the league's top half of backup point guards. If he can recapture some of the magic he found two years ago with the Warriors, he jumps far higher than that.

He should find success as a pick-and-roll guard and will be able to play alongside Williams to dispel him from some of his ball-handling duties.

The Nets point guards have a high ceiling, but based on last year's results, they're closer to slightly above average than they are to the top of the league.

Grade: B-

Shooting Guard

Jason DeCrow/Associated Press

First string: Joe Johnson

Second string: Alan Anderson

Third string: Markel Brown

Johnson and Williams make up what is likely (definitely?) the most overpaid starting backcourt in the NBA now that Steve Nash is out for the season in L.A. Johnson critics will let you know that time and time again.

Johnson may have one of the fattest contracts in the league, but that doesn't mean he deserves to be a target solely of criticism. In actuality, he's still one of the NBA's better shooting guards. 

Johnson's post-up game, especially when he plays at the big guard position as opposed to small forward, is essential to the Nets' attack, and he remains the one of the team's best wing shooters.

He's actually become more efficient as he's taken a more off-ball role with Brooklyn, posting a career-high 56.4 percent true shooting a season ago.

Johnson may not be an All-Star anymore, but he remains in the top half of the league's starting shooting guards. 

Anderson, meanwhile, fits in as a capable rotation player who serves fine as a backup, though his inability to hit threes from the corners is a turnoff.

Brown doesn't expect to get much time, but he's one of the best athletes from June's NBA draft and might be a nice surprise for a team that could use spry legs on the perimeter. 

Grade: B

Small Forward

Alex Goodlett/Getty Images

First string: Bojan Bogdanovic

Second string: Mirza Teletovic

Third string: Sergey Karasev

The beauty of the Brooklyn forwards is that there is plenty of versatility. 

Teletovic is capable of playing both forward spots. Karasev can play a little 2. Kevin Garnett can bang at both big-man positions. Same goes for Mason Plumlee. And Andrei Kirilenko, though it doesn't happen all the time, can still play his old position of small forward in moments of need.

Still, the small forward spot remains a relative unknown, because we can't be sure exactly what Bogdanovic is, yet. 

The Croatian rookie sunk five of 22 threes during his first-ever NBA preseason. Now, he's getting ready to start at small forward on opening night.

Bogdanovic is a shooter. The 25-year-old made 38.7 percent of his threes last year in Turkey for Fenerbahce Ulker and showed a liking for the catch-and-shoot during the Nets' exhibition games.

Teletovic is the same way, considering the Bosnian knocked in 39 percent of his threes last year and chucked up jumpers upon receiving the ball as much as any other guy in Brooklyn.

Throw him at the 3, and he can find promise off the ball. Let him play the 4, and he can stretch the floor like no other power forward on the roster.

Still, there isn't a ton of skill diversity between two shooters who don't handle the ball or play defense all that much (though Teletovic did improve his defensive rotating by the end of last season), and opponents could find a way to exploit the small forwards' weaknesses.

Grade: C

Power Forward

Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images

First string: Kevin Garnett

Second string: Andrei Kirilenko

Third string: Cory Jefferson

After Brook Lopez went down for the season last year with a broken foot, the Nets mostly went small for the remaining part of the schedule.

An aging but still effective Paul Pierce slotted into the power forward spot late in the season, and the Nets went on a roll, recovering from their 10-21 start to finish with 44 victories.

Even though Brooklyn is clearly worse off without Lopez healthy, his injury last year afforded Garnett the opportunity to slide over to center, where he's mostly played since the lockout season.

KG doesn't necessarily have the agility and energy to guard upper-echelon power forward athletes on a gamely basis. What 38-year-old does? But now, with Lopez hoping to play in a decent amount of contests this season, that's exactly what Garnett will have to do.

The former Timberwolf and Celtic missed a total of 28 games a year ago, unable to play for half of every back-to-back. That's where we could see Kirilenko start.

Plumlee, listed as a center here because, well, you've got to pick one (for no reason at all), would possibly be the favorite to start when KG sits, especially after some strong preseason showings. Of course, if Plumlee has overtaken Lopez as the starter at the 5, that's a different story. 

Garnett possibly provides a better offensive complement to Lopez than would Plumlee, if only because his shot is still immensely effective.

KG hit just over 43 percent of his attempts from 16 feet out to the three-point line during his first season in Brooklyn and has progressively become more of a jump shot-heavy player with age. 

Still, Garnett clearly regressed last season and isn't getting any younger. Kirilenko is prone to injuries as well, missing at least 15 games during every since season the 2007-08 campaign. Last year—when he only played in 45 matches—was no exception.

If healthy, the Nets' power forward contingent can play some nasty defense, but that is a big "if."

Grade: C+

Center

Nathaniel S. Butler/Getty Images

First string: Brook Lopez

Second string: Mason Plumlee

Third string: Jerome Jordan

There is a theme with this roster: Most positions are annoyingly difficult to grade because it's somewhat impossible to predict upcoming health.

Williams, Garnett, Kirilenko and Lopez all have injury histories, some more serious than others, and none more worrisome than Lopez's. The Nets center missed 65 games a season ago, undergoing foot and ankle surgery over the past 12 months.

He's still only 26 years old, but playing 96 total games over a three-year span is never encouraging, and a 7-footer with foot issues is always disconcerting. 

When Lopez is on the floor, a reasonable person can argue he's the most talented low-post scoring center in the game, to which Al Jefferson would probably curse him out—and the reasonable person would respond with something logical to diffuse Jefferson's aggressive tone because he's a reasonable person. 

If Lopez can't go, and he has already missed the past two weeks with a right midfoot sprain—from which he still hasn't returned to practice, by the by—then Plumlee finally gets a chance to get major minutes at center. 

The defensive-minded big man has major potential. He's a wonderful athlete with a rim-protecting future as a mobile defender. He took his rebounding to new levels over the final two preseason games, when he ripped down 28 boards in 59 total minutes. 

If Lopez does happen to go down, Plumlee is a perfectly capable backup at the 5, as is Garnett. For offensive reasons, though, the Nets better hope they don't lose their best scorer for the third time in four years.

Grade: B

Fred Katz averaged almost one point per game in fifth grade but maintains that his per-36-minute numbers were astonishing. Find more of his work at WashingtonPost.com or on ESPN's TrueHoop Network at ClipperBlog.com. Follow him on Twitter at @FredKatz.

Unless otherwise noted, all statistics are current as of Oct. 27 and are courtesy of Basketball-Reference.com and NBA.com (subscription required).