What should Nets fans expect from Rondae Hollis-Jefferson during his rookie season?

By foxsports
Published

The Nets may not have had their own first-round pick this year, but they actually ended up with two guys who heard their name called in Round 1, Chris McCullough and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, whom they received in the Mason Plumlee trade. But just because the Nets gave up a legitimate piece for RHJ doesn't mean fans should expect an immediate impact from the 23rd overall pick in Thursday night's draft.

Fred Katz of Bleacher Report has more:

(H/t to Fred Katz of Bleacher Report.)

Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-USA TODAY Sports

The NBA is heading in that positionless direction. It's not just because the Golden State Warriors won 67 games and the title with a switchy, homogeneous defense that planted the 6'7" Draymond Green at center for meaningful playoff minutes. The league has been trending in this direction for a while.

"You look at Golden State," King said. "They can throw [Andre] Iguodala out there. They can throw other guys out there."

So King is trying to build something similar on the defensive end. But he started searching for those types in previous drafts.

Markel Brown, whom the team drafted in 2014, showed that he could ferociously defend the 1 and 2 this past season. A fellow member of Brown's class, Cory Jefferson, has the athleticism and length to go at it with 4s or 5s. And those guys were second-round picks.