Timofey Mozgov’s Role With Brooklyn Nets Will Only Keep Shrinking

He and Mozgov are not the same player, but they are close enough. Zeller is not as useful defensively, but he is not a liability. On the other end, the offense runs nicely when Zeller’s out there, and he boasts the fifth highest offensive rating on the team (105.6). Brooklyn does not need to run any plays for him, and he is more mobile than Mozgov is. Zeller also rebounds at a similar rate. One thing that is noticeable, however, is opponents do not pay any attention to Mozgov when he is near the perimeter.

Brooklyn got away with Brook Lopez because of all the attention he commanded. In him, the Nets had a talented scorer who knocked down threes at an astonishing rate while consistently demanding double teams on the block. That allowed other guys to get better looks. Mozgov does not space the floor, nor is he a threat in the post. The three ball is such a critical piece of Kenny Atkinson’s system that condensing the court only hurts everyone else. A team cannot cannot have its guards running into a wall of defenders every time.