Brooklyn Nets

Whereas the Warriors used the natural fit of Durant and Stephen Curry to create what is arguably the deadliest offensive duo in NBA history, Durant and Irving ...

The execution leaves a lot to be desired — the timing of the back screen and the roll is way off — but what matters is the intention. — who presents more of a pull-up threat — be the ball handler in this situation to replicate the effect it had with the Warriors. Assistants gaining employment typically don’t command that kind of attention — but those in the know are aware of how big this particular hiring really is. The presence of Patty Mills discourages help on the roll — peep at Jevon Carter rushing back to Mills — and a Durant pocket pass around the handoff sets Day’Ron Sharpe free for the dunk. Timing and execution can be refined over the course of the season, and Kokoškov will certainly help in that department. While scheme played a non-insignificant part, having the best collection of offensive talent was the main driver behind that success. While the Nets ran a fair amount of handoff actions last season (6.2 per 100 possessions, 10th in the league), they scored 0.946 points per possession on them — 5th in the league, per Synergy. Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving are two of the world’s premier isolation scorers, the ultimate shot creators who are given liberty to take control of a half-court possession while everyone else gets out of their way. There is also the your-turn-my-turn nature of an offense that relies on two shot creators. And then, there are those few teams who — relative to the rest of the league — use ball screens extremely sparingly. [Brooklyn Nets](https://www.netsdaily.com), who ranked 23rd in pick-and-roll frequency — those possessions that were finished by the ball-handler, the roll-man, or a third party — during the 2021-2022 season, per Synergy. Every team runs ball-screen-based sets — some lean on it as the fulcrum of their schemes.