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Brooklyn Nets Have Great Balance of Youth and Experience


Debby Wong-USA Today Sports

Age isn’t just a number in the NBA.

A surplus in youth usually means a patience-testing rebuilding project, which is the exact road teams like the Boston Celtics are prepping themselves to go down. Teams such as the Los Angeles Lakers, on the other hand, are criticized for being much too old and appear worn out as games increase in significance and quantity

And then there are the Brooklyn Nets, who have the perfect balance of age, experience and fine quality.

Some analysts have given the Nets unnecessary flack, claiming that trading for 37-year-old Kevin Garnett and 35-year-old Paul Pierce and Jason Terry only guarantees that their roster will be older, but not infinitely better.

But new head coach Jason Kidd isn’t crossing his fingers that these three will be his team’s saviors after a gut-wrenching first round exit at the hands of the depleted Chicago Bulls last season.

Garnett, Pierce and Terry are surrounded by excellent talent in Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez and reserve Andrei Kirilenko, meaning they won’t be forced to shoulder any sort of load.

Williams is one of the league’s premier point guards at 29 years of age. Johnson and Kirilenko are still highly productive at 32. And Lopez, only 25, has already evolved into an elite center as he prepares to enter the prime of his career.

The younger players Brooklyn has available to come off the bench complement Kirilenko, Terry and 33-year-old Reggie Evans perfectly as well. Point guards Tyshawn Taylor, 23, and Shaun Livingston, 27, bring plenty of energy to the table, as do 26-year-old Andray Blatche and 23-year-old rookie Mason Plumlee.

The Nets have a little bit of everything in terms of age. And balance is always a good thing.

Mike B. Ruiz is a Brooklyn Nets writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @mikebruiz and “Like” him on Facebook.


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